Top Belarus politician blasts president .
Larisa Sayenko
MINSK 1996-08-30
A senior Belarus politician accused President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday of attempting to set up a dictatorship in the former Soviet republic .
The speaker of the Belarus parliament , Semyon Sharetsky , told Reuters that a draft constitution , due to be put to a national referendum on November 7 , would dangerously increase the powers of the ruler .
" The world community should not be indifferent to the fact that President Lukashenko , who leads this European state of 10 million people , is trying to establish a dictatorship with his new constitution , " Sharetsky said .
The new constitution calls for a two-chamber parliament with a 110-seat majority-elected house of representatives and a regionally-represented senate with a third of its members named by the president .
Lukashenko 's aides shrugged off Sharetsky 's charge . "
If there was a dictatorship they would n't have the right to say things like this , " Sergei Posukhov , Lukashenko 's political adviser , told Reuters .
" The people have asked us to establish order and that 's our main aim . "
Lukashenko , 41 , won presidential polls in 1994 on promises to restore order , fight corruption and repair the strong links with Russia that were disrupted by the collapse of the Soviet Union .
But during his period in office he has battled against nationalist opponents , trade unions and parliament and Sharetsky said the current parliament was ready to try to impeach him .
" This constitution , which has been prepared in secret , aims to gather all power in one man 's hands , " he said . "
We should not be fooled by his quasi-democratic rhetoric and his methods , like this referendum . "
Lukashenko signed a pact with Moscow in April to create a strong economic and political union which he believes could grow into a federation .
But nationalist groups , scared by the prospect of renewed Moscow domination and Russia 's backing for Lukashenko , protested against the deal .
Lukashenko responded by cracking down on the nationalist opposition and jailing nearly 200 people for taking part in demonstrations against the pact .
The United States last week granted political asylum to two opposition leaders , Zenon Poznyak and Sergei Naumchik .