Politics of Belarus
CIS Member State Parliamentary elections The politics of Belarus takes place in a framework of a presidential republic with a bicameral parliament.
Executive power is nominally exercised by the government, at its top sits a ceremonial prime minister, appointed directly by the President.
Legislative power is de jure vested in the bicameral parliament, the National Assembly, however the president may enact decrees that are executed the same way as laws, for undisputed time.
His successor, Alexander Lukashenko, upon assuming office in 1994, began to re-instate Soviet-era functions and reintroduced the symbols from Soviet Belarus.
For most of this period, it sought to control all aspects of government and society and to infuse political, economic, and social policies with the correct ideological content.
The most active and visible of the opposition political groups in Belarus in the first half of the 1990s was the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), founded in October 1989 with Zianon Pazniak as chairman.
The BPF declared itself a movement open to any individual or party, including communists, provided that those who joined shared its basic goal of a fully independent and democratic Belarus.
Its membership consists mainly of the intelligentsia, and it espouses Christian values, nonviolence, pluralism, private property, and peaceful relations among ethnic groups.
[4] The Council of Europe has barred Belarus from membership since 1997 for numerous 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".
[7] The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced that the statement from Secretary Rice "are a poor basis" to form a good Belarusian-American alliance.
It is no secret that "Poland has taken the strongest lead against the ongoing repression in Belarus, hosting broadcasting stations for opposition forces" like Belsat, and "giving asylum to a number of exiled figures.
"[9] During the rule of Lukashenko there have been several cases of persecution, including the disappearance or death of prominent opposition leaders Yury Zacharanka and Viktar Hanchar and independent journalists Dzmitry Zavadski and Veronika Cherkasova.
Although Article 16 of the 1996 amended constitution, see the above referendum, reaffirms the equality of religions and denominations before the law, it also contains restrictive language that stipulated that cooperation between the state and religious organizations "is regulated with regard for their influence on the formation of spiritual, cultural, and country traditions of the Belarusian people."
The authorities issue internal passports to all adults, which serve as primary identity documents and are required to travel, obtain permanent housing, and for hotel registration.
In May and in summer, they closed a Polish-language newspaper, replaced the democratically elected leadership of the UPB with their own nominees and launched a media campaign against Poland; both parties expelled each other's diplomats.
For example, the ministry refused to register a local branch of BPF Party in Hrodna Region because of "incorrect line spacing" in the documents.
[13] One of the refusals got by the Belarusian Christian Democracy cited the lack of home or work phones information for some of the party founders as the reason.
[10] In 2009, the ministry declared that the registration process was simplified, but the legal experts of political parties doubted this statement claiming that only insignificant issues were affected.
[12] Amnesty International reported cases of pressure to withdraw signatures needed to register a political party by the local authorities and managers (in state organizations).
Due to the structure of Belarusian industry, Belarus relies heavily on Russia both for export markets and for the supply of raw materials and components.
