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Opinion: Belarus has no need to rewrite the Constitution anew

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MINSK, 31 March (BelTA) – Belarus has no task today to develop a new Constitution from scratch, Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Chairman of the Constitutional Commission Piotr Miklashevich told the media on 31 March, BelTA has learned.

“Today there is no task to develop a new Constitution from a blank slate. Let me remind you that the Constitution was adopted in 1994. It was amended in 1996 and our country has been developing steadily, dynamically and safely for about 30 years now; we have been making progress in many areas. Today it is necessary to strengthen the legal framework of our Basic Law to enable us to regulate social relations in all areas at a higher modern level,” said Piotr Miklashevich.

On 31 March the National Library in Minsk played host to the first meeting of the Constitutional Commission. “We have begun work on the most important section of our Constitution, which defines the rights and freedoms of our citizens, the relationship between the individual, society and the state. It should be noted that the section we have meets international standards in human rights. Time requires, however, that certain provisions be clarified so that the rights and freedoms of our citizens would indeed be realized and protected to the full,” the chairman of the commission said.

Piotr Miklashevich emphasized that the work of the commission would be consistent and systematic, in order for the voice of every citizen to be heard. “The commission comprises respected, authoritative, competent and responsible citizens of our country. We say that the main participant in constitutional relations is the citizen. Today it is important to fix at the constitutional level that the citizen should be socially active and responsible. I think there is no reason to doubt the responsibility of the members of the Constitutional Commission. Everyone will perform the assigned task with responsibility,” he said.

A schedule of meetings of the Constitutional Commission was approved at the meeting. Meetings will be held twice a month.

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