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House of Representatives (Belarus)

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53°53′46″N 27°32′41.2″E / 53.89611°N 27.544778°E / 53.89611; 27.544778

House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus

Палата Прадстаўнікоў Нацыянальнага сходу Рэспублікі Беларусь
Палата представителей Национального собрания Республики Беларусь
8th House of Representatives of the National Assembly
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1996
Preceded bySupreme Soviet of Belarus
Leadership
Chairman
Igor Sergeenko, Independent
since 22 March 2024
Deputy Chairman
Vadim Ipatov [ru]
since 22 March 2024
Structure
Seats110
Political groups
Government (91)
  •   Belaya Rus (51)
  •   Independent (40)

Support (19)

Length of term
4 years
Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
25 February 2024
Meeting place
Government House, Minsk
Website
house.gov

The House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus[n 2] is the lower house of the parliament of Belarus, while the upper house is the Council of the Republic. It was established after the Constitution of Belarus was amended in 1996, replacing the Supreme Council of Belarus.[1]

It consists of 110 deputies elected to four year terms on the basis of direct electoral suffrage by secret ballot (art. 91).[2] It is a majoritarian system, with the outcome decided by overall majorities in single-member constituencies. Any citizen of 21 years is eligible for election (art. 92). The functions of the House are to consider draft laws and the other business of government; it must approve the nomination of a prime minister (art. 97); and it may deliver a vote of no confidence on the government (art. 97).

Since the 1995 Belarusian parliamentary election the majority of seats in the House of Representatives have been held by independents.

Powers

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Bills adopted by the House of Representatives are sent to the Council of the Republic for consideration within five days, where they are considered within no more than twenty days.

Special powers accorded only to the House of Representatives are:

  • consider draft laws put forward by the President or submitted by no less than 150 thousand eligible voters, to make amendments and alterations in the Constitution and give its interpretation;
  • consider draft laws, including the guidelines of the domestic and foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus; the military doctrine; ratification and denunciation of international treaties;
  • call elections for the Presidency;
  • grant consent to the President concerning the appointment of the Prime minister;
  • consider the report of the Prime minister on the policy of the Government and approve or reject it; a second rejection by the House of the policy of the Government is an expression of non-confidence to the Government.

Since constitutional amendments in 1996, the House of Representatives has little real power. Notably, the House has little control over government spending; it cannot pass a law to increase or decrease the budget without presidential consent. Additionally, if it rejects the president's nominee for prime minister two times, the president has the right to dissolve it.[3] In practice, nearly all governing power is concentrated in the hands of President Alexander Lukashenko, and the House of Representatives does little more than approve the president's policies.

In the aftermath of the 2019 Belarusian parliamentary election, the Belarusian opposition lost all of its seats in the assembly, as every single elected deputy was deemed to support President Lukashenko.[4] The House has been composed entirely of Lukashenko supporters for all but one term since 2004, and even before 2004 there had been little substantive opposition to presidential decisions.

Speakers of the House of Representatives

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Name Entered office Left office
Anatoly Malofeyev 28 December 1996 21 November 2002
Vadim Popov [be; ru] 21 November 2002 16 November 2004
Vladimir Kanaplyov [be; ru] 16 November 2004 2 October 2006
Vadim Popov 2 October 2006 27 October 2008
Vladimir Andreichenko 27 October 2008 22 March 2024
Igor Sergeenko 22 March 2024 Incumbent

Fraction

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(2019, 7th convocation).

Party Number of Deputies
2012 2016 2019
Liberal Democratic Party 0 1 1
United Civic Party 0 1 0
BPF Party 0 0 0
Communist Party of Belarus 3 8 11
Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" 0 0 0
Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly) 0 0 0
Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1 3 6
Belarusian Patriotic Party 0 3 1
Belarusian Green Party 0 0 0
Conservative Christian Party - BPF 0 0 0
Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly 0 0 0
Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord 0 0 0
Republican Party 0 0 0
Agrarian Party 1 0 1
Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party 0 0 0
Belarusian Liberal Party of Freedom and Progress 0 0 0
Belarusian Christian Democracy Party 0 0 0
Belarusian Party of Workers 0 0 0
Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) 0 0 0

Members (since 1990)

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus asserts that it is an opposition party, but de facto supports the presidency of Alexander Lukashenko.
  2. ^ Belarusian: Палата прадстаўнікоў Нацыянальнага сходу Рэспублікі Беларусь, romanized: Pałata pradstawnikow Nacyjanalnaha schodu Respubliki Biełaruś; Russian: Палата представителей Национального собрания Республики Беларусь, romanized: Palata predstaviteley Natsional'nogo sobraniya Respubliki Belarus'

References

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  1. ^ "Республика Беларусь".
  2. ^ "Elections of Deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus".
  3. ^ Wilson, Andrew (6 December 2011). Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300134353.
  4. ^ "Belarus election: No seats for opposition as Lukashenko maintains power". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
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