House of Representatives of Belarus


Under the 1996 Constitution, the House of Representatives is the lower house of the parliament of Belarus.
It consists of 110 deputies elected to four year terms on the basis of direct electoral suffrage by secret ballot. 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. 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 ; and it may deliver a vote of no confidence on the government.
The upper house is the Council of the Republic.
The House of Representatives was established in 1997 to replace Supreme Soviet of Belarus.

Powers

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:
In practice, the House of Representatives has little real power. Notably, it has little control over government spending; it cannot pass a law to increase or decrease the budget without presidential consent. It has been dominated by supporters of President Alexander Lukashenko since its inception. Indeed, from 2004 to 2016, every seat in the chamber was occupied by supporters of the president. In any event, the Belarusian political system concentrates nearly all decision-making power in the president's hands, and there is almost no opposition to executive decisions.
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 Alexander Lukashenko.

Speakers of the House of Representatives

Fraction

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Members (since 1990)