Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: ‘All four referendums were important for Belarus’

MINSK, 27 February (BelTA) – All four referendums were important for Belarus, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media at a polling station in Minsk on 27 February, BelTA has learned.

"I think all four referendums were very significant. I say this sincerely and honestly," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The president, in particular, recalled that following the first referendum in 1995, the Russian language was given a status of the state language. In Ukraine, for example, the oppression of the Russian-speaking population has become one of the reasons for today's events, the head of state said. “Why would multinational Ukraine forbid people to speak the language they want?” the head of state asked. "The Russian language is the soul of the Belarusian people.”

The referendums approved the state symbols of Belarus, the death penalty.

"Therefore, for me, those referendums were important. This one is important too,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. “Step by step we will rebuild the political and socio-economic system of our state ( there will be as much work after the adoption of the Constitution). It is not bad that we will have a ‘popular assembly’, which will be able to stop a head of state and any body of power.”

"We must understand that the Basic Law, if it is adopted, will cut back the president’s powers. At the very least, the president will have to look around, because some of his powers will be transferred to the Belarusian People’s Congress and the Parliament, the government. What's wrong with that?" the president added.

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