PM comments on plans to transfer presidential power to Security Council

Roman Golovchenko said that he participated in the preparation of proposals for the announced decree as a member of the Security Council. "For the time being I do not know what the final version of the decree will be. Whatever the president decides will be. This decision must be made. There are reasons for the decree. We all know what is going on around our country, what goals the enemies of our state pursue. They have gone beyond any moral values. Therefore, the country should be ready for anything, for any development of the situation. The president, as head of state, commander-in-chief, understands this very well," the prime minister said.

"We should be ready for any development, including the ones not envisaged in the current Constitution: physical elimination of the leadership of the country," the head of government stressed.

According to Roman Golovchenko, the draft decree defines how the state will function in case of an emergency situation, in order to prevent the loss of control and to mobilize forces to preserve order and security of citizens.

Some argued on the internet that allegedly the prime minister should hold a personal grudge for this decision of the head of state to transfer power to the collective body. When asked about this, Roman Golovchenko said that such reasonings are inappropriate. “What grudge are they talking about? I'm a government official as many others. I like my job as I am engaged in economy, in making the lives of our citizens better. So it's probably not up to me to guess what will happen next. I hope that this decree will never be activated. But, once again, this is the option that the president had to think about in case such an emergency situation occurs. The main concern of the head of state, in my opinion, is the security of the country. This is the goal of the decree," the head of government noted.

Roman Golovchenko stressed that the country's leadership bears a collective responsibility for the present and the future of the state. "We act within our powers. Should our country face a threatening situation, we will continue carrying out our duties in the same way, collectively and monolithically," he assured.

As it has been reported, in April Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko announced plans to sign a decree on the transfer of presidential power to the Security Council in case of an emergency situation.

Talking to the media during his visit to Narovlya District, Aleksandr Lukashenko explained that all his decisions would concern exclusively the internal situation in the country and would answer the question: what if the opponents of the government succeed in assassinating the president?

“If there is no president tomorrow, do you guarantee that everything will be fine? No. Therefore, I am going to sign a decree soon as to how the power in Belarus will be structured. If the president is killed, the Security Council will take over the presidential powers immediately, will declare a state of emergency, even a martial law if someone starts trouble on the border. The Security Council must make these decisions. That is why I said that I would sign a decree and determine who would govern the country ‘in case of emergency',” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Such a need is unlikely to arise but it is not the time to let our guard down, the president said. “I have to envisage everything. This is why I will sign this decree. The country will actually have a collective president in the form of the Security Council. Yes, there will be a chairperson: when there is no president, the prime minister is acting in his stead. The prime minister will preside, but all decisions will be made by secret ballot to avoid any pressure. The Security Council, which has civilian and military members, will decide on the date of the presidential election, a state of emergency, the way to move forward and so on,” said the Belarusian leader.