20-year-old student sues Lukashenka
Alyaksandr Lukashenka / Reuters
Yelizaveta, a 20-year-old student at a Minsk university, is suing Belarus President Aliaksandr Lukashenka, TUT.by reports. She seeks to appeal the head of state's decree which sets the date for the next the parliamentary elections in November - 7 November for the seats in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the Council of the Republic, and 7 November - to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the parliament. The dates mean that the term and the powers of the current members of the House of Representatives have been be reduced by 10 months. In the view of Yelizaveta, Lukashenka had no Constitutional basis for his decision. The complaint filed with Minsk's Leninski District Court reads that holding the elections ten months earlier violates Yelizaveta's right to be elected. Under the current laws, one can be elected a member of the House of Representatives only having reached the age of 21.
The young woman explains that she has recently become involved in politics. She began to discuss the idea of appealing against the decree of the head of state on holding the parliamentary elections several months ago with a lawyer she knew. The was looking for 20-year-old persons who could file such a complaint. She agreed, although she did not plan to run for parliament.
The student does not believe that the court will consider the complaint. Rather, "this is more of a performance to show that we have loop holes even in the Constitution."
