Alexander Lukashenko's proposal to raise the status of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly to a constitutional body makes it possible to reduce many mistakes of our partners, allies and neighbors through creating a Civil Society Institute that would be able to directly express the interests and aspirations of every citizen, exercise control over state bodies and guide their development. This was the statement of the BISR analyst Alexey Avdonin to sb.by portal as he commented on the President's initiative to raise the status of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly to a constitutional body.
Alexey Avdonin noted that the proposal to raise the status of the People's Assembly is a long overdue form of a new public dialogue between the Belarusian people and the government:
– Under contemporary communication revolution and within the framework of our relatively small population, this form of political communication should be regarded as the most advanced solution compared to the political systems of other states.
The BISR analyst drew attention to the fact that in many countries, the historically established institution of civil society is political parties which are an essential linke between society and the government:
– Parties elaborate and accumulate the political will of citizens and transform it into decisions and actions of state bodies. In classical views, it is a developed multi-party system which is a necessary condition for political pluralism and real democracy.
At the same time, at the present stage of public relations development, multipartyism does not produce the expected result and often leads exclusively to the unjustified spending of public funds on "permanent elections" and individual political strategists profiting off the development of ideologies and political parties programs.
Alexey Avdonin is convinced:
– The Head of State's proposal to raise the status of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly to a constitutional body makes it possible to reduce many mistakes of our partners, allies and neighbors through creating a Civil Society Institute that would be able to directly express the interests and aspirations of every citizen, exercise control over state bodies and guide their development.
It is clear that All-Belarusain People's Assembly delegates should not be just nominal persons, inactive and passive, implementing their role only once every five years. These are different times requiring different approaches to "people from the people". Time also requires a change in ideology of conducting and implementing the work of such bodies. The ideology is simple: "we, Belarusians, are one people, and we are responsible for our own future".
According to the expert, it is important to ensure the correct mechanism for electing the Assembly's delegates:
– The All-Belarusian People's Assembly is the general assembly of our Belarusian family, and its delegates are the "eye of the people" for the corrupt, slow and sluggish officials. The All-Belarusian People's Assembly in the status of a constitutional body is a new form of public diplomacy inside the country. When accountability for results is shared not only by President or government officials, but by each of us.