• Under the current Constitution, too much power is concentrated in a single person, while ordinary Belarusians have almost no influence over the authorities’ decisions. This leads to weak protection of rights and distrust of the state.

• A new Constitution is needed to ensure that power truly belongs to citizens, is limited by law and accountable, that human rights are protected by an independent judiciary, and that the decision-making process is more participatory.

• Returning to the 1994 version would leave too much power with the President, meaning the risk of repeating past authoritarian practices would remain. A simple “rollback” does not address the root cause of current problems.

• The 1994 Constitution did not have a section on the Government. The procedure for forming local executive authorities was also not specified, which is why today the practice of the president appointing executive committee leaders does not contradict the original text. In other words, “going back” preserves the logic of a centralized power structure.

• The new Draft Constitution proposes a different architecture of power and is based on modern European standards and recent experience rather than an outdated mid-1990s compromise.

• The draft was prepared by the Public Constitutional Commission — about thirty people, including former members of the Supreme Council, judges of the first composition of the Constitutional Court, leaders of political parties, and independent experts. The work was coordinated by Myechyslaw Hryb, with key contributions from Mikhail Pastukhou and Anatoli Liabedzka. This team of practitioners and theorists had deep knowledge of the Belarusian legal system and experience translating values into actionable norms.

• The draft was developed openly: over nine months in 2021, around twenty public discussions were held, approximately 150 educational materials were released, reaching at least 1.5 million people, and about three thousand proposals and comments were submitted to the Working Group. The text was regularly updated and sent for expert review.

• Public feedback was also collected through surveys: on the Golas platform, 463,594 people responded in late 2020, and in August 2021, Honest People surveyed another 8,361 participants. The input was considered in refining the text.

• Additionally, independent European constitutional law experts reviewed the draft to ensure alignment with modern standards.

• The draft changes the logic of governance. Instead of a system where key decisions are concentrated in the President and a superstructure created under him, like the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, responsibility shifts back to an elected Parliament and a Government accountable to it. The President remains head of state, but with representative and arbitration functions, without the ability to unilaterally control the executive branch. This reduces the concentration of power and makes politics more changeable and accountable to citizens.

• Unlike the current model, where decisions are issued from the top down through a “vertical” system, the Draft Constitution establishes real local self-government. Key local decisions will be made by elected local authorities with appropriate resources and powers.

• The draft prioritizes the individual and their rights: they are explicitly recognized as the highest value, with real mechanisms for protection. This differs from current practice, where “state interests” often take precedence over human rights. A new office of the Ombudsman is introduced — an independent protector of citizens’ rights and a mediator between the individual and the state.

• The judiciary is restructured to be truly independent and to protect citizens equally in disputes with the authorities. The Constitutional Court’s powers are strengthened, and the system is opened to international mechanisms of protection. None of this exists in the current Constitution.

• The main difference is clear: the current Constitution reinforces presidential concentration of power, while the draft distributes power, places human rights at the center, makes the judiciary independent, and restores citizens’ influence through parliament and strong local self-government.

You can discuss the draft and propose amendments on several open platforms:

• on the website https://prastora.info

• in the SVAE mobile app (in the “Belarus Constitution Project” community)

• and on the Try Slany platform http://tryslany.com

On each platform, you can leave a comment on a specific article or provide general feedback — anonymously or under your name. All platforms protect personal data. Proposals collected from these resources are regularly gathered and forwarded to the Working Group for consideration.