The House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus is the lower house of the parliament of Belarus, while the upper house is the Council of the Republic. It was established after the Constitution of Belarus was amended in 1996, replacing the Supreme Council of Belarus.
It consists of 110 deputies elected to four year terms on the basis of direct electoral suffrage by secret ballot (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).
From 1995 until 2024, the majority of seats in the House of Representatives were held by independents: since 2024, Belaya Rus holds the most seats, although all the members are pro-Lukashenko.
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: consider draft laws put forward by the President or submitted by no less than 150 thousand eligible voters, 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.
Since constitutional amendments in 1996, the House of Representatives has little real power. Notably, the House has little control over government spending; it cannot pass a law to increase or decrease the budget without presidential consent. Additionally, if it rejects the president's nominee for prime minister two times, the president has the right to dissolve it. In practice, nearly all governing power is concentrated in the hands of President Alexander Lukashenko, and the House of Representatives does little more than approve the president's policies.
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 Lukashenko. The House has been composed entirely of Lukashenko supporters for all but one term since 2004, and even before 2004 there had been little substantive opposition to presidential decisions.
Speakers of the House of Representatives NameEntered officeLeft officeAnatoly Malofeyev28 December 199621 November 2002Vadim Popov21 November 200216 November 2004Vladimir Konoplev16 November 20042 October 2006Vadim Popov2 October 200627 October 2008Vladimir Andreichenko27 October 200822 March 2024Igor Sergeenko22 March 2024Incumbent
Fraction (2019, 7th convocation). Party Number of Deputies 2012 20162019Liberal Democratic Party 0 11 United Civic Party 0 10 BPF Party 0 00Communist Party of Belarus 3 811 Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" 0 00Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly) 0 00Republican Party of Labor and Justice 1 36Belarusian Patriotic Party 0 31Belarusian Green Party 0 00Conservative Christian Party - BPF 0 00Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly 0 00Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord 0 00Republican Party 0 00Agrarian Party 1 01Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party 0 00Belarusian Liberal Party of Freedom and Progress 0 00 Belarusian Christian Democracy Party 0 00Belarusian Party of Workers 0 00Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) 0 00
Historical composition 1995 43 1 33 1 8 2 2 8 95 62 5 2000 6 5 2 2 94 1 2004 8 3 98 1 2008 6 1 103 2012 3 1 1 105 2016 8 3 3 94 1 1 2019 11 2 1 6 89 1 2024 7 8 40 51 4
Members (since 1990) List of members of the Belarusian Parliament, 1990–95 (1996–2000) (2000–2004) (2004–2008) (2008–2012) (2012–2016) (2016–2019) 7th House of Representatives of Belarus (2019–2024) (2024–2028)
See also Politics of Belarus List of legislatures by country
Notes
References
External links
House of Representatives website