IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: Belarus

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Presidential
2016

Belarus
Republic of Belarus
Region: Europe

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO
Head of Government: Prime Minister Mikhail MYASNIKOVICH
Assembly: Belarus has a bicameral Parliament (Natsionalnoye Sobranie) consisting of the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki) with 64 seats and the Chamber of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley) with 110 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.*
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
In the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki), 56 members are elected by regional governing councils to serve 4-year terms and 8 members are appointed by the president to serve 4-year terms*. In the Chamber of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley) 110 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.**

* Half of all registered voters must turn out for the election to be valid.

* There are 7 multi-member constituencies with a district magnitude of 8. Each district corresponds to the country's six regions and the capital Minsk.

** In order to be considered valid, 50 percent of voters must show up to vote. If a second round is necessary in a district, this threshold is lowered to 25 percent. However, if the second round of voting is held for only one candidate, the candidate needs to obtain the support of over half of the voters taking part in the election.