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EAST EUROPEAN LEGISLATIVE MONITOR

BELARUS -- SEPTEMBER 1996, vol. I, no. 5

BILLS
Bankruptcy
Immigration
Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda
Amendment to the Law On Military Forces

LAWS
No new laws, as the Supreme Soviet was in recess

RULES AND PROCEDURES
Committees in the Supreme Soviet
Schedule for Parliamentary by-elections

POLITICAL PARTIES
President calls for national referendum on and amendment to the
     constitution, and resists a parliamentary by-election
All major political parties join efforts in anti-presidential
     campaign and hold a roundtable on impeaching the president
     President calls for election of "All-Belarusian National
     Congress"

FACTS
Republic of Belarus

Constitution: Ratified March 15, 1994

Head of State: Alyaksandr Lukashenka

Government: Cabinet of Ministers; formed 1994. President nominates
prime minister, MP prime ministers, and ministers. Nomination of
prime minister, MP prime ministers, minister of foreign affairs,
minister of finance, minister of defense, minister of internal
affairs, and chief of secret service must be confirmed by the Supreme
Soviet.

Parliament: Supreme Soviet; 260 seats (199 MPs have actually been
elected, another 61 are expected to be elected in November).

Major parties in Parliament: Accord (not a political party per se,
rather a grouping of pro-presidential MPs), 62 seats (32 percent);
Agrarian Party (AP), 46 seats (23.3 percent); Belarusian Communist
Party (BCP), 45 seats (22.2 percent); Labor Union (LU), 18 seats (9.1
percent); Civic Action (CA), 18 seats (9.1 percent); 10 MPs are
independents.

Last Parliamentary Elections/Next: December 1995/November 1996 (for
the election of unfilled seats)/2000 (the next general election).

Parliamentary Electoral Formula: majority system with 260
single-member seats; election in two rounds, winner must win majority
of registered voters in district.

Legislative Procedure: Initiative: MPs, standing committees of the
Supreme Soviet, president, Supreme Court, Supreme Commercial Court,
general prosecutor, Chamber of Control, National Bank, 50,000
registered voters.

Adoption requirements for bills: constitutional provisions: 2/3
majority, normal bills: simple majority; president has veto, which
may be overridden with 2/3 majority.

BILLS

In September, the bill ON BANKRUPTCY is to be considered again by the
Supreme Soviet. This bill was drafted and submitted by the Supreme
Commercial Court and the Standing Committee for Economic Policy and
Reforms in July.

In the meantime, the procedure for bankruptcy is governed by the 1991
Soviet Union law "On Economic Insolvency and Bankruptcy."  The bill
would maintain several useful provisions of the outdated law, but
works from a fundamentally different basis. Article 1 states that
"bankruptcy is defined as a company's permanent financial insolvency
or inability to pay its debts, as established by the Commercial
Court." Under Art. 2, "the purpose of the bankruptcy procedure is to
regulate relations between the insolvent company and its creditors,
and satisfy creditors' demands during the subsequent winding-up of
the bankrupt company."

The bill also lays out the grounds and procedures for bankruptcy of
legal persons, as well as of natural persons and entrepreneurs.

The bill ON IMMIGRATION was drafted and proposed by the Standing
Committee for International Affairs. It would allow the creation of a
legislative basis for the regulation of relations with foreigners on
the territory of Belarus.  The bill follows earlier laws, such as the
law "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens and Expatriates in
Belarus" and the law "On Refugees." It provides regulations
concerning the entry of foreigners into Belarus, the procedure for
entry clearance, and the procedure for deportation. The cornerstone
of the bill, however, is the regulation of the various forms of
immigration and naturalization. Article 59 is intended to combat
illegal immigration and defines the violation of immigration law as
follows:
- assistance in the illegal entry of foreigners into Belarus, or
  illegal transfer of foreigners into Belarus;
- provision of shelter for foreigners illegally present in Belarus;
- transfer of foreigners for the purpose of prostitution or any other
  immoral purpose;
- assistance or participation in the illegal transit of foreigners
  through the territory of Belarus;
- entrance of foreigners into Belarus in violation of immigration
  laws;
- illegal employment of foreigners or assistance in such employment.

A bill ON THE CENTRAL COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS FOR
ELECTION AND NATIONAL REFERENDA was submitted by the president. The
intention of the bill is to define the purpose, competence,
organization, and activities of the commission. Under Art. 4, the
commission will be formed by the president and parliament equally:
"Six members of the Central Commission shall be elected by the
Supreme Soviet and six members shall be appointed by the president of
Belarus." Members of the Central Commission can be recalled by the
president.  Article 5 gives the president the right to propose the
candidature for chief of the Central Commission.

The parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense prepared
and submitted AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW "ON MILITARY FORCES IN THE
REPUBLIC OF BELARUS (1992)." Because of the adoption of the
Constitution in 1994 and the elaboration of a new "Concept  for the
Reformation of the Armed Forces," an amendment to the law appeared
necessary. Art. 4 provides that the president is the commander in
chief of the armed forces of Belarus. Under Art. 5, "The positions of
minister of defense of the Republic of Belarus, deputy ministers and
other officials in the armed forces can be held by civil servants."


LAWS

There are no new laws, as the Supreme Soviet was in recess.


RULES AND PROCEDURES

Parliament approved the schedule for the forthcoming parliamentary
by-election campaign. Under this plan, the national broadcasting
company must define the time limit for candidates' addresses to
voters on local radio. The registration of electoral groups will
continue until September 20 and the results of such registration must
be submitted for publication on, or before, September 24. The
nomination of candidates will start on September 15 and end on
October 14,  40 days before the election. The by-election per se was
scheduled for November 24.

The bill ON COMMITTEES IN THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE REPUBLIC OF
BELARUS was prepared and submitted by the Parliamentary Committee for
Statehood and Local Self-Government. The bill defines the functions,
competence, and organization of standing committees in Parliament, as
well as providing for the creation of investigative, audit, and other
ad-hoc parliamentary committees. According to Art. 4, "the Supreme
Soviet establishes standing committees composed of members of
Parliament. If necessary, the Supreme Soviet can create ad-hoc
committees. A standing committee is a body of the Supreme Soviet,
established for the purpose of preliminary consideration and
preparation of issues within the competence of the Supreme Soviet,
and of assistance for implementation and control of adopted laws."
Article 6 grants the right of legislative initiative to standing
committees.


POLITICAL PARTIES

Despite the parliamentary recess, August was politically heated.
Angered by resistance from the opposition, the president prepared a
political attack on the Supreme Soviet and the Constitutional Court.
Accusing them of creating increased tension in society and resisting
reforms, the president endeavored to amend the present Constitution
in order to expand his powers and reduce the power of the legislative
and judicial branches. He proposed to include in a national
referendum, to be held on November 7, the following questions:

1. Whether to replace the Independence Day holiday of July 27 with
the Day of Liberation of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic
from the Nazis in 1944. This question is highly ideological--
Independence Day is the anniversary of the day when Belarus declared
its separation from Russia in 1990. Taking into consideration that
only about 20-25% of the public support the independence of Belarus
(according to recent polls), the president intends to end this
national holiday. His opinion is that the separation of Belarus from
Russia is more of a tragedy than cause for a holiday.

2. The second question is the cornerstone of this referendum: "Do you
want to adopt the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus of 1994
with the amendment proposed by the president of Belarus?" According
to this amendment, the present Supreme Soviet will be replaced by a
two-chamber Parliament, with the upper chamber partially formed by
the president. The president would also have the right to dissolve
Parliament. The Constitutional Court would be formed partially by the
president and would have limited jurisdiction.

3. "Do you support the sale of land in Belarus without any
restrictions and limitations?"

4. "Do you support the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus?"

President Lukashenka refused to include the question on NATO
enlargement in the referendum, despite his earlier promise to do so.
The results of the first and second questions will have legal force,
and will have to be implemented. The results of the third and fourth
questions, however, do not constitute a mandate. The significance of
the referendum is that a positive outcome for the president will
result in the dissolution of the present Supreme Soviet and the
Constitutional Court. The president intends to hold the referendum on
November 7, the date of the Communist Revolution in Russia in 1917, a
day which is still celebrated by many in Belarus. Needless to say,
the Supreme Soviet will resist the presidential proposal. Moreover,
some members of Parliament intend to include the issue of impeachment
procedures against the president as one of the questions in the
referendum. The majority of political parties are cooperating in
their efforts to prevent the president's initiative.

First, the seven major political parties made a declaration of their
position, then a roundtable was held, where representatives of the 15
major political parties (from the right-wing Belarusian Popular Front
to the left-wing Belarusian Communist Party) took part. The
president, however, refused to participate in the roundtable. "I do
not belong to any political party and do not intend to negotiate with
any of them," he said. Moreover, he called for the election of the
so-called All-Belarusian National Congress (presidential decree No.
341 of August 29, 1996). Many commentators are afraid that the
president intends to replace the existing Parliament with a
non-constitutional body and give it legislative power.

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The East European Legislative Monitor is a free, monthly publication
of the Constitutional and Legislative Policy Institute.

East European Legislative Monitor Staff

       Editor  Jeff Taylor

       Associate Editor  Dwight Semler

       Assistant Editors  Mathew Utterback
                          Paul Benjamin
                          Sybilla Suda

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Original content and overall form of A Belarus Miscellany ©1996-2004 by Peter Kasaty : All Rights Reserved. Last Updated:  1997/08/08
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