More than 65% of Belarusians voted on Sunday for the changes to the Constitution proposed by President Alexander Lukashenko, announced the Central Election Commission of this former Soviet republic.
The question put to the vote was whether or not to adopt these changes which would strengthen the powers of Mr Lukashenko, 67, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994.
The referendum came as neighboring Ukraine is in the throes of a Russian invasion triggered on February 24, with talks between Russians and Ukrainians, announced by both sides, to take place on the Belarusian border.
“It is 65.16% of voters who voted for the changes to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus”, announced in the night from Sunday to Monday the chairman of the Belarusian Central Electoral Commission, Igor Karpenko, quoted by the Russian news agencies. According to him, 10.07% voted against. The turnout was 78.63%, according to the same source.
To be adopted, the changes had to obtain more than 50% of the votes, the referendum being considered valid if more than 50% of voters took part. Among the proposed changes are lifelong legal immunity for former presidents, and the introduction of a two-term presidential limit for Mr Lukashenko’s successors.
If the Constitution did not envisage a limit before, this new limit would apply from the entry into office of a new president, which would allow Alexander Lukashenko to remain in power until 2035 if he is re-elected in 2025.
In the amended version, the obligation for Belarus to remain a “nuclear-free zone” also disappears. This article would be replaced by an article “excluding military aggression from the territory” of Belarus. The re-election of Alexander Lukashenko as president in August 2020 sparked a historic protest movement in this former Soviet republic, violently repressed by the authorities, who carried out mass arrests as well as liquidations of media and of NGOs.