harady, singular - horad); Brestskaya (Brest), Homyel'skaya
(Homyel'), Horad Minsk*, Hrodzyenskaya (Hrodna), Mahilyowskaya (Mahilyow),
Minskaya, Vitsyebskaya (Vitsyebsk); note - when using a place name with
the adjectival ending 'skaya' the word voblasts' should be added to the
place name note: Independence: 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944
was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was
the date of independence from the Soviet Union

Constitution: 30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24
November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became
effective 27 November 1996

Legal system: based on civil law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since
20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Gennadiy NOVITSKIY
(since 1 October 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13
March 2000), Aleksandr POPKOV (since 10 November 1998), Sergei SIDORSKY
(since NA September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since NA September 2001)
cabinet: president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%,
Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4% elections: president elected by popular vote for
a five-year term; first election took place 23 June and 10 July 1994;
according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been
held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November
1996 referendum; new election held 9 September 2001 (next election to
be held by September 2006); prime minister and deputy prime ministers
appointed by the president

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie
consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats;
56 members elected by regional councils and 8 members appointed by the
president, all for 4-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or
Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; members elected by universal adult
suffrage to serve 4-year terms) election results: party affiliation
data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations
are meaningless elections: Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges
are appointed by the president); Constitutional Court (half of the
judges appointed by the president and half appointed by the Chamber
of Representatives)

Political parties and leaders: Agrarian Party or AP [Semyon SHARETSKY,
chair