Lukashenko Signs New Constitution

President Alexander G. Lukashenko signed into law a new constitution granting him vast powers, climaxing his triumph over an opposition that accuses him of establishing a dictatorship. Lukashenko derided his critics in the old, now powerless parliament as “political adventurers and traitors” and posted guards outside their building. Lukashenko made constitutional changes that virtually give him control of all branches of government and extend his term to 2001. The changes were approved by voters in a referendum that critics called unfair and undemocratic.