Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Covering an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) and with a population of 9.2 million, Belarus is the 13th-largest and the 20th-most populous country in Europe. The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions. Minsk is the capital and largest city; it is administered separately as a city with special status.
The politics of Belarus takes place in a framework of a presidential republic with a bicameral parliament. The President of Belarus is the head of state. 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.
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko is a Belarusian politician who has been President of Belarus since the office's establishment on 20 July 1994, making him the longest-serving European president.
Stanislav Stanislavovich Shushkevich was a Belarusian politician and scientist. From 25 August 1991 to 26 January 1994, he was the first head of state of independent Belarus after it seceded from the Soviet Union, serving as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet. He supported social democratic reforms and played a key role in the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The Belarusian Agrarian Party was an agrarian socialist political party in Belarus. It supported the government of Alexander Lukashenko. The leader of the party was Mikhail Rusy, who succeeded Mikhail Shimansky on 15 March 2008.
The Communist Party of Belarus is a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Belarus. The party was created in 1996 and supports the government of president Alexander Lukashenko. The leader of the party is Aliaksiej Sokal. The party has had more seats in the National Assembly of Belarus than any other party since the 2000 Belarusian parliamentary election, the first national election it participated in. However, most seats in the Belarusian legislature are held by independent politicians.
The United Civic Party is a banned liberal-conservative and liberal political party in Belarus. The party opposes the government of Alexander Lukashenko and has participated in the country's elections on a few occasions, but it did not have a single member in the Belarusian parliament until one member was elected during the 2016 elections. It claims that its lack of seats is due to the unfairness of the election process.
The BPF Party is a banned political party in Belarus. It was de facto established after the split of the social movement Belarusian Popular Front in 1999. The Belarusian Popular Front was founded during the Perestroika era by members of the Belarusian intelligentsia, including Vasil Bykaŭ. Its first and most charismatic leader was Zianon Pazniak.
Belarus elects on national level a head of state—the president—and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The National Assembly has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 110 members elected in single-seat constituencies elected for a four-year term. The Council of the Republic has 64 members, 56 members indirectly elected and eight members appointed by the president.
The Belarusian Republican Youth Union is a youth organization in Belarus. Its goals are to promote patriotism and to instill moral values into the youth of Belarus, using activities such as camping, sporting events, and visiting memorials. The organization was created after a merger of other youth groups in 2002 and is the successor of the Leninist Communist Youth League of the Byelorussian SSR. The BRSM is the largest youth group in Belarus and is supported by the Belarusian government. Some people have accused the group of using methods of coercion and empty promises in order to recruit new members and of being used as propaganda for the government of Alexander Lukashenko.
The president of the Republic of Belarus is the head of state and head of government of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Council. This replaced the office of Chairman of the Supreme Council as the head of state. The tasks of the president include executing foreign and domestic policy, defending the rights and general welfare of citizens and residents, and upholding the Constitution. The president is mandated by the Constitution to serve as a leader in the social affairs of the country and to act as its main representative abroad. The duties, responsibilities and other transitional clauses dealing with the presidency are listed in Chapter Three, Articles 79 through 89, of the Constitution.
The All Belarusian People's Assembly is a general meeting of the Belarusian Government with industry leaders and other top officials from every sector of the government.
A seven-question referendum was held in Belarus on 24 November 1996. Four questions were put forward by President Alexander Lukashenko on changing the date of the country's independence day, amending the constitution, changing laws on the sale of land and the abolition of the death penalty. The Supreme Council put forward three questions on constitutional amendments by the Communist and Agrarian factions, local elections and the national finances.
Andrei Olegovich Sannikov is a Belarusian politician and activist. In the early 1990s, he headed the Belarusian delegation on Nuclear and Conventional Weapons Armament Negotiations, also serving as a Belarusian diplomat to Switzerland. From 1995 to 1996, he served as Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus, resigning as a form of political protest. He co-founded the civil action Charter 97, and was awarded the Bruno Kreisky Prize in 2005.
The Belarusian opposition consists of groups and individuals in Belarus seeking to challenge, from 1988 to 1991, the authorities of Soviet Belarus, and since 1995, the leader of the country Alexander Lukashenko, whom supporters of the movement often consider to be a dictator. Supporters of the movement tend to call for a parliamentary democracy based on a Western model, with freedom of speech and political and religious pluralism.
The Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" is a former left-wing political party in Belarus that opposes the government of president Alexander Lukashenko. Until October 2009, it was known as the Belarusian Party of Communists.
The Belarusian Patriotic Party was a political party in Belarus loyal to President Alexander Lukashenko. Nikolai Ulakhovich was the party's chairman.
Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 11 October 2015. Long-term president Alexander Lukashenko ran for his fifth term in office, having won every presidential election since independence in 1991. He was re-elected with 84% of the vote, according to official figures. The 'against all' option received more votes than any opposition candidate.
Sviatlana Hieorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya is a Belarusian political activist. After standing as a candidate in the 2020 presidential election against the president Alexander Lukashenko, she has led the political opposition to his authoritarian rule through an oppositional government operating from Lithuania.
Yury Voskresensky is a Belarusian politician from pro-Lukashenko Communist Party of Belarus and businessman closely collaborating with the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. In 2020, he organized a "Round table of democratic forces" intended to become a dialogue platform, but all major opposition figures refused to collaborate with him. Voskresensky is sometimes accused of working for the Belarusian KGB.
