President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, while receiving a report from Minister of Justice Sergei Khomenko, set the task to legally enshrine the concept of "civil society" and explain it to the people, reports BELTA correspondent.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, while receiving a report from Minister of Justice Sergei Khomenko, set the task to legally enshrine the concept of "civil society" and explain it to the people, reports BELTA correspondent.
The Head of State drew attention to the upcoming extensive work in party building and bringing order to public associations. "It is imperative to give a clear signal to the people and society about what civil society is, what it consists of, and to reflect this in the laws. Legislation must clearly define it," emphasized the Belarusian leader.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of political parties and trade unions in Belarus has remained unchanged recently – 15 and 25, respectively. However, the number of public associations has decreased to 2978, which is due to their inventory conducted by justice bodies in cooperation with law enforcement agencies. In total, 116 public associations have been liquidated in the country over the past six months. The Ministry of Justice continues to work on improving legislation concerning the activities of political parties and other public associations.
The need to develop and adopt a law on civil society was discussed during the consideration of the new version of the Constitution and the preparation for the referendum. Addressing the Belarusian people and the National Assembly with a Message in January of this year and answering questions from those present, Alexander Lukashenko noted the role of civil society in the formation of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly: "If the people support the changes in the referendum, one of the first draft laws to be developed and adopted will be the law on civil society. What is civil society? What does it consist of? It will consist of those people who have distinguished themselves, who are truly the pillars of this society."
According to Alexander Lukashenko, these people include representatives of youth and veteran organizations, trade unions, and the Women's Union. He also emphasized that discussions with deputies and specialists will be held on the criteria for forming VNS delegates from civil society – based on numbers, territorial principle. "This is an open question. We have parties. We will discuss, we will talk. Together, as we discussed the draft Constitution, and we will make a decision," the head of state stressed.
Source: belta.by