Belarus Government 1997

Country name
conventional long form : Republic of Belarus
conventional short form: Belarus
local long form: Respublika Byelarus'
local short form: none
former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

Data code BO

Government type republic

National capital Minsk

Administrative divisions 6 voblastsi (singular - voblasts') and one municipality* (harady, singular- horad); Brestskaya (Brest), Homyel'skaya (Homyel'), Horad Minsk*, Hrodzyenskaya(Hrodna), Mahilyowskaya (Mahilyow), Minskaya, Vitsyebskaya (Vitsyebsk)
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrativecenters (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union); the Belarusian Supreme Soviet issueda proclamation of independence; on 17 July 1990 Belarus issued a declarationof sovereignty

National holiday Independence Day, 3 July (1990); note - date set by referendum of November1996

Constitution referendum of 27 November 1996 (declared illegitimate by the internationalcommunity) adopted a new constitution massing power in the hands of the president;signed into law on 28 November 1996

Legal system based on civil law system

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Sergey LING (acting since NA November 1996, confirmedNA February 1997); First Deputy Prime Minister Pyotr PROKOPOVICH (since NA); Deputy Prime Ministers Vladimir GARKUN (since NA), Valeriy KOKAREV (sinceNA), Vladimir RUSAKEVICH (since NA), Vasyl DALGALYOV (since NA)
cabinet: Council of Ministers
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election lastheld 24 June and 10 July 1994 (next to be held NA 2001 because of the additionaltwo years provided by the November 1996 referendum); prime minister appointedby the president
election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO elected president; percent of vote - AleksandrLUKASHENKO 85%, Vyacheslav KEBICH 15%
note: first presidential elections took place in June-July 1994

Legislative branch bicameral Parliament established by the 28 November Constitution consistsof the Council of the Republic (64 seats; the president appoints 8 and each oblast plus the Minsk city government elect 8) and the Chamber of Representatives(110 seats; note - present members came from the defunct Supreme Soviet)
elections: last held May and November-December 1995 (two rounds, each with a run-off;next to be held NA 2000)
election results : percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - KPB 42, Agrarian 33,CAB 9, Party of People's Concord 8, UPNAZ 2, SDPB 2, BPR 1, Green Party 1,Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1, BSP 1, NFB 1, Social and Sports Party1, Ecological Party 1, independents 95, vacant 62; note - after the November1996 referendum, seats for the Chamber of Representatives were filled by formerSupreme Soviet members as follows: PKB 24, Agrarian 14, Party of Peoples Concord5, LDPB 1, UPNAZ 1, Green World Party 1, Belarusian Social Sports Party 1,Ecological Party 1, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1, independents60; 58 of the 64 seats in the Council of the Republic have been appointed/elected

Judicial branch Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the president; ConstitutionalCourt, half of the judges appointed by the president and half appointed bythe Chamber of Representatives

Political parties and leaders Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Yefrem SOKOLOV and Viktor CHIKIN,chairmen]; Agrarian Party [Aleksandr PAVLOV, chairman]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Stanislav BOGDANKEVICH, chairman]; Party ofPeople's Concord [Leonid SECHKO, chairman]; Party of All-Belarusian Unityand Concord or UPNAZ [Dmitriy BULAKOV, chairman]; Belarusian Social-DemocratHramada or SDBP [Nikolai STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement(Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatol BARANKEVICH]; Green Party of Belarus[Nikolai KARTASH, chairman]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice [AnatolNETYLKIN, chairman]; Belarus Peasants or BSP [Yevgeniy LUGIN, chairman]; BelarusianPopular Front or NFB [Levon BARSHEVSKIY, acting chairman]; Belarusian SocialSports Party [Aleksandr ALEKSANDROVICH, chairman]; Ecological Party [LiudmilaYELIZAROVA, chairman]; National Democratic Party of Belarus or NDPB [ViktorNAUMENKO, chairman]; United Democratic Party of Belarus or ADPB [AleksandrDOBROVOLSKIY]; Belarusian Socialist Party or SPB [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; SlavicAssembly or SAB [Nikolai SYARECHEV]; Liberal-Democratic Party or LDPB [SergeiGAIDUKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Christian-Democratic Unity or BKDZ [PetrSILKO]; Polish Democratic Union or PDZ [Konstantin TARASEVICH]; Party of BeerLovers [Yuriy GONCHAR]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKINand Vasiliy NOVIKOV, chairmen]; Belarusian Labor Party or BPP [Aleksandr BUKHVOSTOV]

International organization participation BIS, CCC, CEI, CIS, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO,ITU, NACC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission : Ambassador-designate Valeriy TSEPKALO
chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604
FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805
consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission : Ambassador Kenneth Spencer YALOWITZ
embassy: Starovilenskaya #46-220002, Minsk
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [375] (172) 31-50-00
FAX : [375] (172) 34-78-53

Flag description red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the widthof the red band; a white vertical stripe of white on the hoist side bearsin red the Belarusian national ornament

NOTE: The information regarding Belarus on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Belarus Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Belarus Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.