Belarus

Politics

Main articles: Politics of Belarus, Foreign relations of Belarus.

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Politics of Belarus - Foreign relations of Belarus

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Belarus is a republic, governed by a President and a bicameral parliament?the National Assembly?comprising a lower house, the 110 member House of Representatives, and an upper house, the 64 member Council of the Republic. The House of Representatives has the power to appoint the Prime Minister of Belarus, make constitutional amendments, call for a vote of confidence on the prime minister and make suggestions on the foreign and domestic policy of Belarus. The Council of the Republic has the power to select various government officials, conduct an impeachment trial of the president and the ability to accept or reject the bills passed from the House of Representatives. Each chamber has the ability to veto any law passed by local officials if it is contrary to the Constitution of Belarus. The President?since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko?is the head of state and heads the executive branch of the government, with the assistance of a cabinet of ministers, headed by a prime minister; the members of the cabinet need not be members of the legislature, and are appointed by the President. The judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and various specialized courts, such as the Constitutional Court, which deal with specific issued related to the constitution or business law. The judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Council of the Republic.

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Republic - President - Bicameral - Parliament - National Assembly - House of Representatives - Council of the Republic - Constitution of Belarus - Head of state - Cabinet - Prime minister - Supreme Court - Constitutional Court

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In Belarus, while there are political parties that either support or oppose President Lukashenko, the majority of the seats in the National Assembly are filled by those not affiliated with any political parties ("non-partisans"). However, there are three political parties who hold seats in the 110 member National Assembly: the Communist Party of Belarus (8 seats), the Agrarian Party of Belarus (3 seats), and the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (1 seat). The other two parties that pledged their support to Lukashenko, the Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party and the Republican Party of Labour and Justice, did not secure any seats in October 2004 election. Opposition parties, such as the Belarusian People's Front and the United Civic Party of Belarus, were not allowed to run for election. Several organizations, including as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, declared the election un-free due to opposition parties being barred and the bias of the Belarusian media in favor of the government. {{ref|OSCE}}

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Political parties - Communist Party of Belarus - Agrarian Party of Belarus - Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus - Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party - Republican Party of Labour and Justice - October - 2004 - Belarusian People's Front - United Civic Party of Belarus - Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

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Western media, politicians and political scientists have increasingly labeled Belarus under President Lukashenko's rule as Europe's last dictatorship. The Council of Europe has barred Belarus from membership since 1997 for undemocratic voting irregularities in the November 1996 constitutional referendum and parliament by-elections. According to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, Belarus's constitution is "illegal and does not respect minimum democratic standards and thus violates the principles of separation of powers and the rule of law". {{ref|CoE}} The Belarusian government is also criticized for human rights violations and its actions against NGOs, independent journalists, national minorities and opposition politicians.{{ref|HRW}} During the rule of the current administration in Belarus, there have been several cases of persecution, including the disappearance or death of prominent opposition leaders and independent journalists. Belarus is also one of just two nations in Europe that retains the death penalty for certain crimes.

Related Topics:
Western - Political scientist - President Lukashenko - Europe - Dictatorship - Council of Europe - 1997 - Human rights - NGOs - Disappearance - Death penalty

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