Łukašenka regrets not abolishing direct presidential elections

August 30, BPN. At a meeting on August 30, Alaksandr Łukašenka expressed regret that the Constitution did not include a provision that the president should be elected at the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly. The video clip of his speech was posted by Pul Pervogo, an unofficial Telegram channel of his press office.

Łukašenka said it was possible that the provision would be included in the Constitution.

“I am more and more leaning toward what I discarded when the Constitution was adopted,” he said. “Maybe you, members of public parties, will embrace it too. I was studying the party building systems and election authorities all over the world. We should have taken a risk to offer people an opportunity to elect officials, especially the president, at the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly. Presidential elections will destabilize the situation.”

“Look at China. After all, politics, party activities and so on are also professional work. Are our seven plus million voters so immersed in all these processes to make a conscious choice?” Łukašenka asked. He added that the assembly could represent all social groups.

“Does [Chinese President] Xi Jinping, who is elected at the National People’s Congress today, have no authority? He does, more than me and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin combined. I was afraid that we would take away the people’s right. But today I feel that we should have lived that life. We would have gone through it to work peacefully. And the parliament would have been elected in constituencies. We have missed it, but this is not a disaster. We will return to it if necessary, but not now. Maybe it is not us who will go back to it,” he said.

“The second nuance was that they would have accused me of fearing the people, wanting to keep a grip on my chair, and of seeking to assemble my stalwarts to elect me president. I have never had and will never have this goal. I am already fed up with the presidency. It is not my main task to hold on to power, there is no such problem at all. It is you who should be more concerned about it,” Łukašenka added.

The controversial referendum, held on February 27 and unrecognized by the Belarusian opposition and democratic nations, restored a two-term limit on presidents in the Constitution, and gave the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly more powers.