A group of Belarusian MPs submit the two draft Constitutions to the Council of Europe for examination

Minsk, 2 October. Lawmakers Yury Malumaw, Pyotr Krawchanka, Anatol Lyabedzka and Syarhey Kalyakin, who attended a recent session of the Council of Europe Assembly in Strasbourg, held a news conference at the Supreme Soviet on October 2. It became clear during the news conference that the Belarusian delegation had not had a uniform approach to the problem of Belarus' admission to the Council of Europe. For instance Mr. Krawchanka and Mr. Lyabedzka hold that membership in this international organization is conditioned by the solution of internal problems, although the other two members of the delegation had a different opinion.
Speaking at the session Mr. Krawchanka said that Belarus is lacking for political stability, and that the country is in a grave crisis. Mr. Krawchanka believes that the theory that there are two who are to blame for the conflict - President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Supreme Soviet Chairman Syamyon Sharetski - does not stand up to criticism. In his opinion, the president is the only person to blame and Parliament may only be accused of upholding democracy. According to Mr. Krawchanka, during his speech in Strasbourg he cited some examples of restrictions on freedom of speech in Belarus, such as the disconnection of independent radio station Radyyo-101.2 from broadcasting, the denial of television appearance to Supreme Soviet Deputy Chairman Vasil Novikaw, and the freezing of some independent newspapers' banking accounts.
Messrs. Krawchanka, Kalyakin and Lyabedzka submitted the two draft Belarusian Constitutions to the Council of Europe and asked to officially examine them and inform Minsk about the results of the examination before October 15. According to Mr. Krawchanka, a delegation of the Council of Europe is to visit Minsk in late October.