Belarusian referendum showed the scale of anti-war sentiments in the republic

According to official data, the introduction of amendments and additions to the Basic Law of Belarus in the referendum was supported, according to preliminary data, by 65.16% of citizens with the right to vote, 10.07% opposed.

As the chairman of the Central Election Commission Igor Karpenko stated, 78.63% of citizens took part in the voting at the referendum. In the bulletin, they were asked to answer one question: “Do you accept amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus?”

The referendum, as noted by the BBC, was held without Western and independent Belarusian observers. Representatives of the CIS countries were seen at the polling stations. The election commissions consisted entirely of representatives of state organizations and institutions.

The Kommersant newspaper recalled that Alexander Lukashenko spoke about the need to reform the Belarusian Constitution even before the elections in August 2020 and the crisis that followed them. But the amendments began to be developed most actively after the tragic events in Belarus.

In fact, to a very simple system of state power, completely focused on the president, an important element is added - the All-Belarusian People's Assembly (VNS). This body becomes constitutional and will meet at least once a year to approve the main directions of domestic and foreign policy, military doctrine, the concept of the country's national security, and also introduce a state of emergency "in the event of the president's inaction."

Lukashenko prefers to sit on several chairs

“The VNS is a superstructure that is incomprehensible from the point of view of constitutional law, the fourth power, in which all three are mixed,” said Minsk lawyer Artem Proskalovich . - The constitution, which already does not provide for any separation of powers and a system of checks and balances, becomes even more complicated and blurs the boundaries of both competencies and responsibilities. For the period when Lukashenko begins to combine two posts, it turns out that the controlled body will be at the same time the controlling body”.

“Everything is clear here: Lukashenko has given himself the right to sit on several chairs - to be president and leader of the People's Assembly. This is a clear trend to the fact that the main goal of the constitutional reform is to keep power with undemocratic tools. This is a shifting of powers from the right pocket to the left - the jacket is the same", - Belarusian opposition leader Anatoly Lebedko told the Air Force.

There are also changes in the points concerning foreign policy. On the one hand, the Belarusian military has the opportunity to participate in operations abroad, and on the other hand, from now on "military aggression from its territory against other states is excluded".

“Formally, voting legalizes the Belarusian authorities”, former Belarusian diplomat Pavel Matsukevich told Kommersant. - But the public demand was completely different. People wanted a change in the current government, but they received changes in the Constitution that guarantee Lukashenko power until the end of his life”.

The expert community believes that Lukashenko could do without constitutional reform altogether. Referring to an external threat, he could establish a state of emergency and rule, relying on "bayonets". But he did not go for a demonstrative dictatorship, but tried to push back his inevitable departure from power by imitation of the reform of the Constitution.

“All these constitutional tricks undertaken by the Belarusian authorities indicate that Lukashenko has finally lost the momentum of his rule. He politically retreats, "digs in", "mines" any legal approaches and "trench" to the foundations of his political dominance in the country, and at the same time tries to predict and identify threats to Belarusian authoritarianism, that is, his irremovable power. As a result, Lukashenko turned the new version of the Belarusian Constitution into a bizarre and incompatible heap of legal obstacles that prevent the people, as a real source of power in the Republic of Belarus, from getting to the one who privatized this power, but actually stole it from the people", - political scientist Andrey Suzdaltsev said to Novye Izvestia.

The “grin” of Belarusian nationalism

TASS , citing official Minsk, reported: on the day of the referendum, law enforcement officers of Belarus detained about 800 people for violating public order.

The Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that “despite the numerous calls from destructive Telegram channels to destabilize the situation, which were spread by citizens outside the country, mass protest actions did not happen”.

Police officers were focused on prompt response and suppression of provocations, the department noted.

- On the voting day, there were no mass anti-constitutional protests or loud statements against the existing regime on the territory of Belarus. The fact is that today everyone in the republic is busy with the topic of Minsk's participation in a special operation of Russian troops in Ukraine. The Belarusian opposition believes that Lukashenko is involved in this mess. Therefore, for the first time in the last year and a half, people took to the streets to protest. According to some information, about 5 thousand people took part in them in Minsk. But there was no general rally or march. Gathered at the polling stations by 100-200 people who chanted: "No to war!".

In Minsk, in the evening, a small group of demonstrators gathered near the General Staff building, but they were quickly dispersed, many were detained.

- Imagine that for a year and a half the authorities did not allow any protests or pickets! The fact that people took to the streets indicates that the Belarusian society remains divided, and the rejection of Lukashenko's policies persists. At the same time, it should be noted that we are facing a very tough anti-Russian Belarus. Two years ago, sympathy for Russia was high. Today, the mood in society is changing. The opposition transferred the reasons for its failure to Moscow. We see the “grin” of Belarusian nationalism. About 80% of Belarusians today are extremely anti-Russian, Andrey Suzdaltsev told Novye Izvestia.