Government & politics — Belarus

• history: several previous; latest drafted between late 1991 and early 1994,
• signed 15 March 1994 amendments: proposed by the president of the republic through petition to the National Assembly or by petition of least 150,000 eligible voters; approval required by at least two-thirds majority vote in both chambers or by simple majority of votes cast in a referendum; amended 1996, 2004

• chief of state: President
• Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Pr
• ime Minister Alyaksandr TURCHYN (since 10 March 2025) cabinet: Council of Mini
• sters appointed by the president election/appointment process: president directly elected by absolute-majority popular vote in 2 rounds, if needed, for a 5-year term (no term limits); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president an
• d approved by the National Assembly most recent election date: first election held on 23 June and 10 July 1994; the 1994 constitution set the next election for 1999, but Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA extended his term to 2001 via a referendum; subsequent election held in 2001; a 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed LUKASHENKA to run and win a third term (19 March 2006), fourth term (19 December 2010), fifth term (11 October 2015), sixth term (9 August 2020),
• and seventh term (26 January 2025) election results: 2025: Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA reelected president; percent of vote - Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (independent) 86.8%, Sergey Syrankov (Communist Party) 3.2%, 3.6%
• voting against all 2020: Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA reelected president; percent of vote - Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (independent) 80.1%, Svyatlana TSIKHANOWSKAYA (independent) 10.1%, other 9.8%; note - widespread street protests erupted following announcement
• of the election results amid allegations of voter fraud 2015: Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA elected president; percent of vote - Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA (independent) 84.1%, Tatsyana KARATKEVIC (BSDPH) 4.4%, Sergey GAYDUKEVICH (LDP) 3.3%, other 8.2%.
• expected date of next election: 2030

Description

bicameral National Assembly or Natsyyalny Skhod consists of: Council of the Republic or Savet Respubliki (64 seats statutory, currently 58; 56 members indirectly elected by regional and Minsk city councils and 8 members appointed by the president; members serve 4-year terms) House of Representatives or Palata Pradstawnikow (110 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed; members serve 4-year terms)

Elections

• Council of the Republic - indirect election last held on 7 November 2019 House of Representatives - last held on 17 November 2019 (next to be held on 25 February 2024); OSCE observers determined that the election was neither free nor impartial and that vote counting was problematic in a number of polling stations
• pro-LUKASHENKA candidates won every seat
• international observers determined that the previous

Elections

on 28 September 2008, 23 September 2012, and 11 September 2016 - also fell short of democratic standards, with pro-LUKASHENKA candidates winning every, or virtually every seat

Election Results

• Council of the Republic - percent of vote by party - NA
• seats by party - independent 58, other 2
• composition as of January 2024 - men 42, women 16, percent of women 27.6% House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA
• seats by party - KPB 11, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 6, BPP 2, LDP 1, BAP 1, independent 89
• composition as of August 2023 - men 66, women 44, percent of women 40%;

Note

total National Assembly percent of women 35.7%

Note

the US does not recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly

• highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the chairman and deputy chairman and organized into several specialized panels, including economic and military; number of judges set by the president of the republic and the court chairman); Constitutional Court (consists of 12 judges, including a cha
• irman and deputy chairman) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the president with the consent of the Council of the Republic; judges initially appointed for 5 years and evaluated for life appointment; Constitutional Court judges - 6 appointed by the president and 6 elected by the Council of the Republic; the presiding judge directly elected by the president and approved by the Council of the Republic; judges can
• serve for 11 years with an age limit of 70 subordinate courts: oblast courts; Minsk City Court; town courts; Minsk city and oblast economic courts

6 regions (voblastsi, singular - voblasts') and 1 municipality* (horad) Brest, Homyel' (Gomel'), Horad Minsk* (Minsk City), Hrodna (Grodno), Mahilyow (Mogilev), Minsk, Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk) note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers; Russian spelling provided for reference when different from Belarusian

• pro-government parties: Belarusian Agrarian Party or BAP [Mikhail RUSY]
• Belarusian Patriotic Party or BPP [Mikalay ULAKHOVICH]
• Belarusian Social Sport Party or BSSP [Uladzimir ALEKSANDROVICH]
• Belaya Rus [Henadz DAVYDKA]
• Communist Party of Belarus or KPB [Alyaksey SOKOL]
• Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Aleh GAYDUKEVICH]
• Republican Party [Uladzimir BELAZOR]
• Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Alyaksandr STSYAPANAW]
• Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord [Syarhey YERMAK] opposition parties: Belarusian Christian Democracy Party [Paval SEVYARYNETS, Volha KAVALKOVA, Vital RYMASHEWSKI] (unregistered)
• Belarusian Party of the Green [Dzimtry KUCHUK]
• Belarusian Party of the Left "Just World" [Syarhey KALYAKIN]
• Belarusian Social-Democratic Assembly or BSDH [Syarhey CHERACHEN]
• Belarusian Social Democratic Party ("Assembly") or BSDPH [Ihar BARYSAW]
• Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) or BSDP [Mikalay STATKEVICH] (unregistered)
• BPF Party [Ryhor KASTUSYOW]
• Christian Conservative Party-BPF [Zyanon PAZNYAK]
• United Civic Party or UCP [Mikalay KAZLOW]

• no citizenship by descent only: at least one pa
• no residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years

BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CEI, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAEU, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SCO (dialogue member), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer), ZC

chief of mission

Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Peter KAUFMAN (since June 2023) embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya Street, Minsk 220002 mailing address: 7010 Minsk Place, Washington DC 20521-7010

telephone

[375] (17) 210-12-83/217-73-47/217-73-48

FAX

[375] (17) 334-78-53

Email address and website

• ConsularMinsk@state.gov
• https://by.usembassy.gov/

chief of mission

Ambassador (vacant; recalled by Belarus in 2008); Chargé d'Affaires Pavel SHIDLOWSKI (since 9 August 2022)

chancery

1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone

[1] (202) 986-1606

FAX

[1] (202) 986-1805

Email address and website

• usa@mfa.gov.by
• https://usa.mfa.gov.by/en/