Under the 1996 Constitution

Constitution of Belarus

The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus is the ultimate law of Belarus. Adopted in 1994, three years after the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union, this formal document establishes the framework of the Belarusian state and government and enumerates the rights and freedoms...

, the House of Representatives is the lower house

Lower house

A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...

 of the parliament of

National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus

The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus is the bicameral parliament that governs the Eastern European country of Belarus. The two chambers of the National Assembly are:*Council of the Republic- The upper house...

 Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

.

It consists of 110 deputies elected on the basis of universal, equal, free, and direct electoral suffrage by secret ballot

Secret ballot

The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...

 (art. 91). 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 (art. 92). 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 (art. 97); and it may deliver a vote of no confidence on the government (art. 97).

The upper house

Upper house

An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...

 is the Council of the Republic

Council of the Republic

Council of the Republic may refer to:* Council of the Republic of the Soviet Union* Council of the Republic of Belarus* Council of the Republic of Russia...

.

Powers

Bills adopted by the House of Representatives are being sent to the Council of the Republic for consideration within five days, where they are considered within no more than twenty days.

Special powers that accorded only to the House of Representatives are:

• consider draft laws put forward by the President or submitted by no less than 150 thousand citizens of the Republic of Belarus, who are eligible to vote, to make amendments and alterations in the Constitution and give its interpretation
• consider draft laws, including the guidelines of the domestic and foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus; the military doctrine; ratification and denunciation of international treaties;
• call elections for the Presidency;
• grant consent to the President concerning the appointment of the Prime minister;
• consider the report of the Prime minister on the policy of the Government and approve or reject it; a second rejection by the House of the policy of the Government is an expression of non-confidence to the Government;

Election rules

Simple majority vote. In the first round, voting is considered valid if over 50 percent of eligible voters take part in the polls. Candidates who receive over 50 per cent of votes are declared elected. If none of the candidates obtains 50 percent of votes, a run-off election between the two leading candidates is held within two weeks. Run-off elections are considered valid if more than 25 percent of eligible voters take part. The candidate securing a simple majority of votes wins the seat. 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.

Candidacy requirements

Candidatures may be submitted by registered political parties, labour collectives or by individuals or groups that collect 1,000 signatures of voters residing in the constituency concerned. Any organization located in the constituency with a staff of at least 300 employees may also submit a candidature.

Speakers of the House of Representatives

Name	Entered Office	Left Office
Anatoly Malofeyev Anatoly Malofeyev Anatoly Alexandrovich Malofeyev was a first secretary of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic during the Soviet Union era and Belarusian parliament speaker. He served as first secretary from July 1982 to 1 April 1985. In 1985, Malofeyev became the Minsk regional Communist Party leader upon...	December 28, 1996	November 21, 2000
Vadim Popov	November 21, 2000	November 16, 2004
Vladimir Konoplev	November 16, 2004	October 2, 2007
Vadim Popov	October 2, 2007	October 27, 2008
Vladimir Andreichenko	October 27, 2008	Present

Fraction

(2008 4 th convocation).

Fraction	Number of Deputies
Block Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...	102
Communist Party of Belarus Communist Party of Belarus The Communist Party of Belarus is a political party in Belarus, that supports the government of president Alexander Lukashenko. It was created in 1996. The leader of the party is Tatsyana Holubeva....	8

External links

• House of Representatives website