{"id":11318,"date":"2021-12-29T02:05:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T23:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/lukasenka-looking-to-amass-power-under-new-constitution\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"lukasenka-looking-to-amass-power-under-new-constitution","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11318\/","title":{"rendered":"Luka\u0161enka looking to amass power under new constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <span>By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <b>A draft constitution proposed for a referendum would enable the incumbent to hold another position \u2013 he may also be elected to preside over the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly, which will be significantly strengthened at the expense of the legislature. <\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p> <b> <\/b><\/p>\n<p>\n\t Although Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka had claimed that the constitution was not tailored for him, if adopted, it would give him immunity from prosecution.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Always seeking to consolidate power<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The assembly, an annual gathering of loyalists, would have the power to annul laws and regulations, except for court rulings, to safeguard \u201cnational security interests.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The government plans to draft a separate law outlining the rules of procedure for selecting delegates. Clearly, they will not be elected by voters, and authorities will make sure to prevent critics from infiltrating the new governing body.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Under the current law, assembly delegates are selected by authorities from among officials and other people vetted for loyalty to Luka\u0161enka.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Luka\u0161enka sees the assembly with its emergency powers as a tool to control the country during the reconfiguration of the political system in accordance with the new basic law.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Constitution would allow Luka\u0161enka to run for two more terms<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Although the constitution would introduce a two-term limit for presidents, the provision would take effect only after the next presidential election scheduled for 2025. This would enable Luka\u0161enka, who is serving his sixth term, to run for two more terms. If he takes over as chairman of the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly, he would have all the capabilities and powers of the administrative state at his disposal.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t At some point, he may hand over the presidency to a successor, but this is unlikely to occur soon given his craving for power, his fear of public uprisings and the Kremlin\u2019s jockeying, and his distrust even for his closest associates. For him it will always be too early to step down.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <b>Luka\u0161enka not in a rush with elections<\/b> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Luka\u0161enka seems to have a deal with Vladimir Putin that the Kremlin would not rush his exit. Moscow is happy with him now that he has taken a stand against the West and guarantees Russia that it can always use Belarus as its outpost. Putin also values his ability to suppress dissent.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The authors have dropped the current constitutional provision that says that Belarus aspires for neutrality and nuclear-free status. Luka\u0161enka said recently that he might ask Putin to deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus in response to threats from NATO.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Belarusian ruler is unlikely now to deliver on his promise to hold an early presidential election. The next parliamentary and local elections are scheduled for the last Sunday of February 2024, according to the draft constitution.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Officials said earlier that the ballot would be held in fall 2023. Luka\u0161enka is delaying the next election cycle as much as possible hoping that public frustration with its policy will ease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski A draft constitution proposed for a referendum would enable the incumbent to hold another position \u2013 he may also be elected to preside over the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly, which will be significantly strengthened at the expense of the legislature. Although Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka had claimed that the constitution was not tailored for him, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11318","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Luka\u0161enka looking to amass power under new constitution | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski A draft constitution proposed for a referendum would enable the incumbent to hold another position \u2013 he may also be elected to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11318\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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