
Executive branch
President of the Republic of Belarus
According to the Constitution, the President of the Republic of Belarus does not belong to any branch of the state power. The President is the Head of State and his functions include ensuring an efficient cooperation of the state powers and mediation between them. As a matter of fact, the President exercises most of the executive authorities and has a right to issue decrees and acts of special order.
The President of Belarus is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits allowing President Aliaksandr Lukashenka to run for a third term in September 2006.
President and the Executive
The President manages the system of executive bodies and ensures their cooperation with the representative bodies. He sets up and abolishes ministries, state committees, and other central bodies of administration of the Republic of Belarus. He appoints and dismisses, with the consent of the Chamber of Representatives, the Prime Minister; appoints and dismisses other members of the Council of Ministers. To exercise his authorities the President establishes Administration of the President and forms, if necessary, other governmental agencies.
President and the Legislative
The Head of State signs laws and has a right, within ten days of receiving a law, to return it with his objections to the Chamber of Representatives for further discussion and a second vote. To override the President’s veto no less than two-thirds of deputies’ votes of both chambers of the Parliament are required.
Besides, the President has a right to issue provisional decrees that extend greater legal effect than the national laws do. To revoke such a decree no less than two-thirds of both Parliament chambers should vote for. However, in Belarus there have been no precedents of repeal of the presidential provisional decrees.
The President is entitled to dissolve the chambers of the Parliament in case the Parliament declares the vote of no confidence to the Government (as well as refuses credence, or fails nomination), or commits violations of the Constitution.
President and the Judicial
The President appoints judges to the General and Economic Courts of the Republic of Belarus, 6 out of 12 judges to the Constitutional Court. With the consent of the Council of the Republic, the President appoints the Prosecutor General, judges and Chairmen of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Economic Court, and the Constitutional Court.
President and the Universal Suffrage
The President of the Republic of Belarus is entitled to: call a referendum and elections to the Chamber of Representatives, the Council of the Republic and the local representative bodies; appoint six members and Chairman (with the consent of the Council of the Republic) of the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda of the Republic of Belarus.
Personalities
Lukashenka Aliaksandr – President of the Republic of Belarus (since 20 July 1994). On March 19, 2006 was reelected for the third term of presidency. Won 83% of the vote.
Official Site
Presidential Administration
The President determines functions, duties and authorities of the Administration of the President (AP). AP in its turn is responsible for the personnel policy of the State at national and local levels. Besides, AP formulates principles of the state policy and ideology, practically, in all fields of the Belarusian society’s life. AP is also involved in economic activities of the country. It shares profits, lobbies certain business interests, maintains special warranties for investors, etc.
Personalities
Uladzimir Makei – Director of the Presidential Administration (since 15 July 2008)
Government
The Government of the Republic of Belarus, or the Council of Ministers doesn’t play a key role in the policy making process. Its capacity for making policy decisions is limited.
Under the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, the Council of Ministers is the one to exercise executive power. In practice, the Government, when implementing economic and social policies, is guided by the President and his Administration.
The Council of Ministers administers the system of the governmental agencies, provides guidelines of domestic and foreign policy, develops and submits the State Budget to the President for introduction before the Parliament.
The Government is responsible for implementing economic, financial, credit and monetary policies; acts on behalf of an owner of the state property; manages public property. In addition, the Government has a right to call off acts issued by the Ministries and other republican governmental agencies.
Personalities
Sidorski Siarhiej - Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus
Official Sites
Interaction of the Executive Bodies
The President is a key actor in the executive bodies system. He determines the main directions of the state policy, makes the most important political decisions, and carries out personnel policy at top level.
In Belarus each governmental body subordinated to the President is responsible for the certain frame of duties. The Presidential Administration deals with personnel, legal and ideology matters. The Government is responsible for economy and social issues. AP is an important political actor that maintains stability of the current political system and formulates main directions of the state policy. The Government is just a technical agency which ensures economic and social stability of the country.
The executive bodies function in close cooperation and do not collide on political matters, since they represent a single political group. No serious conflicts of the executive agencies can be observed; contradictions are local and thoroughly kept back. Conflicts among political pressure groups usually do not develop into confrontation of the state bodies.
Political preassure groups, clans and ssociations in the Government.
Belarusian political pressure groups and clans are very complicated due to their unstable, situational and indistinct status. Furthermore, the government agencies in Belarus are not transparent, especially those that deal with distribution of capital flows and market sharing. There are five relatively structured informal political pressure groups in Belarus - two of them are formed on a sectoral principle and the other three are based on non-sectoral principles.
Farm Production Lobby
This lobbying group aims at getting government support for the large agricultural enterprises. The Government provides them with preferential crediting, infrastructure investments, public contracts, price supports, warranties and benefits. Though agriculture makes up no more than 8% of the GDP, past years have seen strengthening of the farm production lobbying group. On the one hand, some representatives of the ruling elite (including President Аliaksandr Lukashenka) were involved previously in agricultural sector. On the other hand, backing for agriculture means to ensure social stability and favorable attitude to the Government in the rural areas.
The farm production lobby is represented by chairmen of the state and collective farms and a number of Government officials. The group pursues its interests through the Government agencies and local executive bodies.
Building Lobby
The main goals of this group are: investments in construction, state crediting, public contracts and benefits. In fact, this means providing support not only for the public enterprises, but also for a number of private construction firms.
Construction sector is characterized by corruption and various abuses. The Government is the main channel through which the group pursues its interests. Some experts relate current Prime Minister Siarhiej Sidorski to this group.
Mahilyow Group
In contrast to sectoral lobbying groups, the Mahilyow group does not limit its activities within a certain sector of economy. This group aims at gaining control over capital flows and profitable business sectors, as well as providing administrative “protection racket”.
The Mahilyow group was formed after Аliaksandr Lukashenka had won the presidential election in 1994. People from the President’s team – Ivan Tsitsiankow, Halina Zhurawkova, Uladzimir Kanapliow (speaker of the lower chamber of the Parliament), Yury Matusevich – entered into the Mahilyow group. They got the opportunity to manipulate some governing bodies (in particular, the Administrative Department of the President) that could provide them with control over the capital flows and some businesses (state property leasing, alcohol, tobacco, foreign trade, and other profitable businesses). The President and the Presidential Administration have become the main channel of bringing into effect the Mahilyow group’s interests.
In 2004 the arrest of Halina Zhurawkova, the Director of the Administrative Department of the President led to some transformations within the “Mahilyow clan”.
“Siloviki”
A political pressure group represented mainly by the top officials of the security agencies: the State Security Committee (KGB), the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Council. They wield influence upon the Administration of the President, the President and the security agencies. This political pressure group is the most organized one. Mutual economic activities as well as common professional and business relations consolidate informal relations within the group.
Nomenclature Elite Group
This group includes representatives of the soviet elite that ruled in Belarus in the early 1990s. When Aliaksandr Lukashenka came to power the old elite started to collapse and presently does not have an organized unity. Among the informal leaders of the group is mentioned Mikhail Miasnikovich, the former Director of the AP and the current President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus.
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