On November 27, local time, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that he will resign after the constitutional reform is passed. The Belarusian opposition believes that Lukashenko’s statement is intended to delay time and “cool down” domestic protests in the country.
According to reports from Belarusian state media and Russian media TASS on the 27th, Belarusian President Lukashenko said that day that he will resign after the passage of the constitutional reform. The report quoted him as saying: “I will not amend the constitution to meet my needs.”
Lukashenko also emphasized that “too much power is now concentrated in the hands of the president.” “We need to formulate a new constitution, which should benefit the country. I don’t want this country to collapse in the future.”
Both the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and the American media Axios pointed out that it is not clear whether Lukashenko’s remarks are sincere or just “verbal promises.” According to the report, in any case, this is Lukashenko’s first public reflection on how the country will be governed after he ceases to be president.
Axios further stated that Lukashenko did not seem to rule out the possibility of holding positions other than president.
Franak via orka, senior adviser to opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya), tweeted on the 27th that Russia may let Lu Kashenko understands that his presidency is over. He is currently facing tremendous pressure from street protests.
“However, we will continue to insist on holding elections before the constitutional reform.” The opposition believes that Lukashenko is just delaying time. Earlier, Lukashenko said in an interview with Russian media that the possibility of Belarusian presidential elections being held in advance after the constitutional reform was not ruled out.
On August 9 this year, Belarus held a presidential election, and Lukashenko was re-elected for the sixth time with 80.1% of the vote.
Large-scale protests occurred in cities such as Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and questioned the election results. Some Western countries do not recognize the results of the election, demand that the White side re-elect and plan to impose sanctions on some officials.
On November 6, the Council of the European Union passed a supplementary sanctions list against Belarus, including Belarusian President Lukashenko and 14 other Belarusian government officials, prohibiting these people from entering EU countries and freezing their assets in the EU.
On the other hand, Russia has repeatedly expressed its support for the normalization of the situation in Belarus and opposes external forces interfering in Belarus’s internal affairs.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on November 26 that the constitutional reforms that Belarus has initiated will help stabilize the situation in Belarus.
