At stake in this election:

• 110 seats in the Chamber of Representatives (Palata Pretsaviteley)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY
• 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 Pretsaviteley) with 110 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• 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 Pretsaviteley) 110 members are elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Belarusian Communist Party (KPB)
  • Leader: Viktor CHIKIN
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 6
• Party: Agrarian Party (AP)
  • Leader: Mikhail SHIMANSKY
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 5
• Party: Republican Party of Labor and Justice (RPPS)
  • Leader: Anatoliy NETYLKIN
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 2
• Party: Liberal Democratic Party (LDPB)
  • Leader: Sergei GAYDUKEVICH
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 1
• Party: Social-Democrat Party of Popular Accord (PPA)
  • Leader: Leanid SECHKA
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Representatives election: 1

Last Parliamentary election:

• Parliamentary elections were last held in Belarus on October 15, 2000.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,310,520 (July 2005 est.)
• Registered Voters: 7,356,343 ( 2001 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,180,909 (2004)

·         Is Belarus a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Belarus ratified CEDAW: Yes (4 February 1981)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 32 (following 2004 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 50 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Belarus a signatory to CRPD: Yes (28 September 2015)

·         Has Belarus ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 1,546,578 (est.)