Conventional long form: Republic of Belarus
Conventional short form: Belarus
Local long form: Respublika Byelarus'/Respublika Belarus'
Local short form: Byelarus'/Belarus'
Former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Belarus
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years
Chief of state: president Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994)
Head of government: prime minister Andrey KABYAKOV (since 27 December 2014); first deputy prime minister Vasily MATYUSHEVSKIY (since 27 December 2014)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
Elections:
Election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (independent) 83.5%, Tatsiana KARATKEVICH (Tell the Truth) 4.4%, Sergey GAYDUKEVICH (LDP) 3.3%, other 8.8%; note - election marred by electoral fraud
Description: bicameral National Assembly or Natsionalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Council of the Republic or Sovet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members indirectly elected by regional and Minsk city councils and 8 members appointed by the president; members serve 4-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Predstaviteley (110 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote with a second round if needed; members serve 4-year terms); note - the US does not recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly
Elections: Palata Predstaviteley - last held on 11 September 2016 (next to be held in 2020); OSCE observers determined that the election was neither free nor impartial and that vote counting was problematic in a number of polling stations; pro-LUKASHENKO candidates won virtually every seat with only the UCP member and one independent forming opposition representation in the chamber; international observers determined that the previous elections, on 28 September 2008 and 23 September 2012, also fell short of democratic standards, with pro-LUKASHENKO candidates winning every seat
Election results: Sovet Respubliki - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Palata Predstaviteley - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - KPB 8, Belarusian Patriotic Party 3, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 3, LDP 1, UCP 1, independents 104
Highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the chairman, deputy chairman, and organized into several specialized panels including economic and military; number of judges set by the president of the republic and the court chairman); Constitutional Court (consists of 12 judges including a chairman and deputy chairman)
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the president with the consent of the Council of the Republic; judges initially appointed for 5 years and evaluated for life appointment; Constitutional Court judges - 6 including the court chairman appointed by the president and 6 elected by the Chamber of Representatives; judges can serve for 11 years with an age limit of 70
Subordinate courts: provincial (including Minsk city) courts; first instance (district) courts; economic courts; military courts
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