By Tom Balmforth
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A new draft constitution for Belarus, which President Alexander Lukashenko has put forward as a solution to a political crisis but the opposition rejects it as a sham, will be drafted this year, Lukashenko said. in an interview broadcast Sunday. .
Belarus has seen protests since the presidential election on August 9, where Lukashenko says he won, but the opposition says it has been stolen. Thousands of protesters were rounded up and almost all opposition political figures were deported or sent to prison.
Although protests have been declining over the past five months, videos on social media showed hundreds of protesters on Sunday with red and white opposition flags at small rallies in Minsk, and they sang that Lukashenko had resigned.
Lukashenko has promised unspecified constitutional reforms since early in the crisis. At one point, he even suggested that he retire as soon as a new constitution was adopted. The opposition has consistently rejected the proposal as a stunt to keep him in power.
In excerpts from an interview with Russian television recorded in December but not previously aired, RIA news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying he believed the new draft constitution would be completed by the end of 2021.
“And then the people will decide during a referendum whether there should be a new constitution or not,” he said. This has so far been his strongest statement on the timing of the reform.
The date of the referendum will be announced when parliament convenes on 11-12 February.
The incumbent opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said a new election should be held this year, and that a new constitution should be drafted without Lukashenko saying so.
“A person who has humiliated himself to use terror against Belarusians has nothing to do with the country’s main law,” she said in a statement on social media. “He will continue to promote his manipulation (plan) to deceive us again and buy time for himself.”
(Reported by Tom Balmforth; edited by Peter Graff)