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Olivia Kortas, Yauhen Herasimenka and Hubert Gregorski | 12.09.2016

"My whole life with one parliament"

The citizens of Belarus have elected a new parliament. But what role does the parliament actually play in the political system of Belarus?

What do ordinary Belarusians know about their parliament? (Video: Yauhen Herasimenka)

The weaker a principle of the rule of law is in a given country, the bigger the disparity between legal theory and practice. In Belarus the parliament doesn't play a key role in the political system, even formally. Due to a profound weakness of political parties, its importance is even lower.

The Parliament is assigned its legislative power by the constitution. However, the president supplements the Parliament in exercising legislative power. The Parliament consists of two chambers: the upper house (Council of the Republic) and the lower house (House of Representatives). Both chambers are independent, as evidenced by their different responsibilities and decision-making processes.

The main figure is undoubtedly President Lukashenko

Members of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic as a whole have legislative powers together with the President, the government and a group of 50,000 citizens. Parliament is primarily responsible for adopting budget laws and ratifying international agreements. It is also a supervisory body. The right to remove the President from office in the case of treason or another grave crime is probably the most significant manifestation of this ability. The parliament is supposed to represent and express the interests of the people.

Members of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic as a whole have legislative powers together with the President, the government and a group of 50,000 citizens. Parliament is primarily responsible for adopting budget laws and ratifying international agreements. It is also a supervisory body. The right to remove the President from office in the case of treason or another grave crime is probably the most significant manifestation of this ability. The parliament is supposed to represent and express the interests of the people.

Interestingly, the parliament may delegate its power to the president, with certain exceptions. The constitution provides a group of voters with the unique possibility to recall a member of parliament. However the complexity of the procedure makes it practically impossible. Despite numerous attempts none have been successful so far.

Authors

Olivia Kortas is a German freelance journalist. She studied EU Journalism and now covers politics in Europe.
Yauhen Herasimenka is a Belarusian activist, currently studying Political Science in Poznan, Poland.
Hubert Gregorski studies Law, Russian Language, International Relations and Iranian Studies.

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