Belarus is a landlocked country located in the east of Europe and is bordered by Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. The country has been a part of numerous nations before it saw a form of independence, it has been part of the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and then the Russian Empire.
After the revolution in Russia in 1917, Belarus declared its brief independence as the Belarusian People’s Republic but it was short-lived as the Polish-Soviet War ravaged the country, Poland took some of the territory while the rest was incorporated into the Soviet Union. Interestingly the then government of the Belarusian People’s Republic, called Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, is still in exile to this very day, being the oldest government in exile, it is the most influential organization on the Belarusian diaspora and advocates for democracy in Belarus.
Belarus finally gained independence on 25th August 1991 during the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The capital city is Minsk located near to the center of the country and the currency is the Belarusian ruble and as of 2017 its population is 9.508 million. The official languages are Belarusian and Russian and the largest religion is Christian Eastern Orthodoxy.
Government Type
The Government is made up of a President who is Head of State and an appointed Prime Minister who is Head of Government and there is a bicameral (upper and lower house) parliament that makes up the legislative government.
Current president Alexander Lukashenko who is still the country’s first ever president (but 2nd ever leader) of Belarus since its independence, has attracted widespread criticism for his harsh rule of the country, including lack of proper democracy, unlimited terms as president, human rights abuses, limits of freedom of press, media and speech and powers enabling him to overrule parliament as well as one of the only former-Soviet states on the European side to keep close relations with Russia and reinstatement of Soviet-era functions, policies and symbols. Public assembly is severely restricted and not allowed without government consent and oversight.
He has been dubbed by Western critics as “Europe’s last dictator”.
Executive Government
As previously mentioned, the Executive government includes the Head of State who is the President of Belarus and the Prime Minister who is the Head of Government, appointed by the President with consent from the lower house of parliament.
The President has a number of powers that he can use, some of them deemed to be authoritarian by critics. These powers include calling national referendums, dissolving of parliament, calling elections for parliament and local representative bodies and decides on the structure of government. He signs bills into law passed by parliament but can also return them either fully or in parts that he doesn’t agree with. He can also appoint and dismiss ministers and deputy prime ministers and decides on officials’ resignations and can abolish acts of government. The president can also send a draft bill to parliament to make changes to the constitution.
With consent from the upper house of parliament, which is basically guaranteed, the president can appoint and dismiss the chairperson of the Supreme Court and also appoint and dismiss judges. In foreign affairs the president is charged with conducting negotiation and signing international treaties as well as appointing and recalling diplomatic representatives. He can also determine the status of asylum seekers and grant pardons to convicted citizens.
The President is also commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces and can declare states of emergency or martial law with consent of the upper house of parliament.
Powers exist to remove the president from office due to physical or mental health with an ad hoc committee being set up to determine the president’s state of health before the motion begins. The President can also be removed from office for committing crime or treason. In both cases a two-thirds vote is required in both houses of parliament and if it is related to crime/treason it must also be reviewed by the Supreme Court. Due to both houses often being stacked with the president’s supporters due to the undemocratic nature of elections, the president being removed from office in this way is incredibly unlikely. The motion is also made void if it isn’t passed within a month’s time of calling it.
The President is immune from arrest with the exception of treason and listed grave crimes in Article 88 of the constitution. The presidents honour and dignity is also protected by the constitution under Article 79, limiting freedom of speech and protest. Further Article 5 makes it illegal for the media/press from printing or reporting news considered defamation against the president.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President with consent from the lower house. They are the Head of Government and are in-charge of ministers and a Cabinet of their creation which is in charge of government policy, the Prime Minister and his government is accountable to parliament and the president and ensures the implementation of decrees and instructions from the president.
The Prime Minister and his cabinet also draft a national budget and can issue acts of government.
Legislative Government
The Legislative government is made up of a bicameral parliament, meaning there is an elected lower house called the House of Representatives and an appointed upper house called the Council of the Republic. The lower and upper house can draft bills from the formation of committees and will debate and vote on draft bills which if passed go to the upper house who debate and if passed from there will go to the President.
The lower house also debates and votes on the report of the Prime Minister on the policy of the government, which if rejected twice is seen as an expression of non-confidence in the government. The house itself can also call and hold a vote of no confidence on the Prime Minister and his government, which requires at least a one-third vote to pass. The lower house also gives its consent to the President’s appointed Prime Minister.
If the lower house rejects the nominated Prime Minister twice, the house will be dissolved by the president and new elections called.
The upper house approves or rejects bills from the lower house. It also gives consent to other appointments by the President such as Chairpersons and judges. The house itself also elects six judges to the Constitutional Court. It can also reverse decisions by local councils that go against the law and also dissolve local councils which it deems have broken the law systematically. It also considers Presidential decrees among other things.
If the President rejects a law passed by parliament, he can send it back, the bill can only be passed into law at that point if it gets a two-thirds vote in both houses. The President can also draft his own bills for parliament to consider. The President can also issue temporary decrees with the power of law if accepted by two-thirds of both houses.
The House of Representatives (lower house) elect a Chairperson of the House and deputy from their ranks and the Council of the Republic (upper house) also elect from their ranks a Chairperson of the Council and a deputy. The chairpersons and their deputies are in charge of conducting proceedings of the houses and also in charge of the regulations of the operation of the chambers.
The lower house has a set 110 members who are elected every 4-years in parliamentary elections while the upper house has a set 64 members who are elected by local regional bodies and others appointed by the president. The upper house consists of 8 deputies from each region or oblast as well as 8 from the capital Minsk. 8 Deputies are also appointed by the President.
Parliament can also vote on having referendums.
Electoral System
The democratic system in Belarus has been highly criticized as inadequate and wholly undemocratic due to restrictions on media, press and freedom of speech, on top of a harsh limit on candidate expenditures making it hard for opposing candidates to be noticed, as well as lack of finance in elections which altogether leads to low turnout and voter apathy. Elections have also been postponed and staggered numerous times and there have been elections where parliament has been left without quorum. Due to this parties have also found it incredibly difficult to gain a foothold, with parliament mostly made up of independents. Most members of parliament are supporters of Lukashenko, leaving him with power to proceed with executive decisions without opposition.
There has also been the disappearances and deaths of prominent opposition leaders and human rights abuses against other opposition politicians.
The President is also allowed to be elected an unlimited number of terms which has allowed Lukashenko, the country’s only 2nd ever leader and first ever President to remain in office since 1994. A presidential term lasts five years, but on occasions the term has been reset due to constitutional changes enacted by the president.
Presidential elections are meant to happen every 5-years and are called by the lower house of parliament within the set time frame by the constitution. Presidential candidates require signatures from no less than 100,000 citizens who are eligible to vote to get on to the ballot. The main election requires a candidate to get at least 50% of the vote to win, a 2nd round with the two highest performing candidates is held if no candidate got more than 50% in the 1st round.
Eligible presidential candidates must be at least 35-years-old and a citizen of Belarus who is eligible to vote and has lived in the country for at least 10-years.
Parliamentary elections elect the lower house of parliament and are held every 4-years. The 110 members are elected from single-seat constituencies using the first-past-the-post system. To be eligible for election to appointment to parliament requires candidates to be citizens of Belarus, at least 21-years-old for the lower house or 30-years-old for the upper house. Additionally, for the upper house candidates must have lived in a corresponding region or the city of Minsk for at least 5-years.
The Upper House of parliament is re-appointed every 4-years.
Any citizen of Belarus who is at least 18-years-old can vote, voting is not compulsory. People can though be considered incapable to vote by a court and people in prison cannot vote.
Thank you for reading, next up will be Belgium!
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