MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2021) The Belarusian commission in charge of drafting amendments to the constitution on Friday proposed that the country's president be stripped of power to issue decrees that have the force of law.
Earlier in the day, the commission gathered for its fourth meeting to discuss changes to the functions of the parliament.
"For the parliament to discharge its legislative power more fully [it is necessary] to eliminate constitutional provisions that allow the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic to delegate legislative power to the president to issue decrees that have the force of law, as well as temporary decrees that have the force of law, either on their own or at the government's suggestion due to exceptional necessity," Belarusian Constitutional Court Chairman Petr Miklashevich, who heads the commission, said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that a draft of the new constitution would be put to a vote early in 2022, after work on it is completed by the end of 2021. On March 16, Lukashenko signed a decree establishing a special 36-member commission to focus on drafting the amendments. The commission has to present a draft version to the president by August 1.
