Belarus leader to amend emergency power transfer to empower son

Alexander Lukashenko to change law so that national security council, where his son plays prominent role, assumes power in event of a president’s death while in office.

Belarus’s longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko has said he will change the law on presidential succession so that the national security council, where his son plays a prominent role, assumes power in the event of a president’s death while in office. “Tell me, if there is no president tomorrow, would you guarantee everything is going to be fine? No,” President Lukashenko told reporters on Saturday during a visit to areas affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986, according to the Belta news agency. “I will sign a decree about how the power in Belarus will be set up. If the president is shot, the next day the security council will get the power,” he said.