One man is not enough to continue moving the country forward. Greater decentralization of power is necessary. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement after casting his vote during the referendum on amending and expanding the country's Constitution, BelTA has learned. 

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Why do we need the Constitution? The period when power concentration and a rigid power vertical were necessary is going away. Certainly, this little war has shaken up Belarusians a bit. They grew tense and said: we don't need it, we need things the way they were back then [according to the current Constitution]. Why? ‘Back then' is not a problem. They want to see a person, to see a government that is held accountable to the people.” 

He went on saying: “That period is over. A more complicated period is about to begin. Whatever kind of president I may be (it is yet unclear what kind), one man is not enough to continue moving the country forward. Greater power decentralization is necessary in order to raise more people to the surface. And we've raised them. Look how many patriotic and above all smart guys and girls have risen up. Even before the [updated] Constitution is passed. And the Constitution has to allow a person to rise from an ordinary citizen to the president. The president must not brake this process. I cannot live forever. I don't know who will rise to power. This is why checks and balances are necessary just like in any society. I didn't invent it. And the self-exiled opposition didn't push us towards it.” 

The head of state noted that nothing has changed radically. “We are going to make several careful steps forward. The fact that the first president has the right to also work as the chairman [of the Belarusian People's Congress according to the updated Constitution] has not been implemented to suit Lukashenko. What if things happen? You will come and say: you are the president, where did you lead us? And I will lack the leverage. This is why we are making careful steps for now. We make them and look whether we did the right thing. We've had enough in the course of our history. This is why we cannot allow mistakes,” he stressed. 

“Nobody can live forever. But I don't waive my responsibility before you, the people. Don't think I will run away and will tell you how to live from a bunker,” Aleksandr Lukashenko assured.

Written by belta.by