Chair of Hrodna REC no longer heads the commission, but remains an MP

On February 5 Khotsimsk civil society activist Valery Karankevich received an answer from the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus to his repeated appeal to Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Uladzimir Andreichanka.

In his appealMr.Karankevich proposed to put before the regular session of the House of Representatives the question of early termination of powers of the member of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Uladzimir Krautsou in connection with his appointment to public office.

In response, signed by Chairman of the House of Representatives standing committee on state building, local government and agenda HenadzHrytskevich, reads:

"Please be informed that on December 19, 2013 Krautsou U.V. was dismissed from the position of of Chairman of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives on economic policy
by a Resolution of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly.

In accordance with Article 8 of the Law "On the Status of Member of the House of Representatives and Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus", early termination of powers of a member of the House of Representatives can be taken by a decision of the House of Representatives.

However, MP Krautsou U.V. hasn't filed application for termination of his parliamentary powers to the House of Representatives. In this regard, MP Krautsou U.V. is now a member of the Standing Committee on Economic Policy and exerciseshis powers in accordance with the law.

The question of early termination of the powers of MP Krautsou U.V. can be considered at a meeting of the House of Representatives on the grounds stipulated by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus."

Valery Karankevich regards this answer as another come-off.

"Chairman of the Standing Committee Henadz Hrytskevich has sent me a runaround, saying nothing about the essence of my proposal,” said Valery Karankevich, who was a rival to Uladzimir Krautsou in parliamentary elections in 2012. “In my appeal to Uladzimir Andreichanka I made a specific proposal – to put on the agenda of the regular session of the House of Representatives the question of early termination of powers of MP Krautsou in connection with his appointment to public office. I drew specific arguments to support of this proposal. As I have already told – it is quite ridiculous, that Governor of the Hrodna region remains an MP representing the east of the Mahiliou region. Henadz Hrytskevich just dodged a specific answer."

Mr. Karankevich argues that the combination of public office with deputy authority violates the principle of separation of powers of the various branches of government and ignores the interests of the voters, which is unacceptable.

"The rules of governing in the democrtic countries preclude the combination of civil service positions with higher powers of deputies of the legislature. These rules also apply in our federal state – Russia. Uladzimir Krautsoudoesn't conduct any parliamentary work in his constituency, having no time for it. I can not say anything bad about Mr. Krautsou as a person. On the contrary, when I talked with his former colleagues from the Hrodna region, I heard many positive things about him both as a person and as a leader. He bahaves much more correctly than the previous Chairman of the Hrodna Regional Executive Committee Shapira. However, his voters in the
Krychau election constituency No. 83 were actually left without their deputy in the House of Representatives, as far as Uladzimir Krautsou doesn't conduct any work with the electorate in his constituency. He must come to understand the absurdity of the situation, stop his deputy powers and focus on the work as Chairman of the Hrodna REC. The Chamber of Representatives must understand that it is not the fault of the electors, who must be represented by a real MP,” stated Mr. Karankevich.

Bear in mind that Ulaedzimir Krautsou was appointed Chairman of the Hrodna Regional Executive Committee by Aliaksandr Lukashenka's Decree No. 509 of November 14, 2013.