BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/08/2009

Parties registration procedure simplified in Belarus

MINSK, August 10 (Itar-Tass) - The procedure of state registration of political parties, trade unions and other non-governmental organisations, as well as their unions and funds has been simplified in Belarus. The republic's Council of Ministers has made the corresponding decision, the Belarusian Justice Ministry said on Monday.

The draft government resolution was worked out by the Justice Ministry "for the implementation of a single approach to the state registration of legal entities," the ministry sources noted.

In particular, representatives of parties and non-governmental organisations earlier had to apply themselves for registration with tax inspectorates, state statistics bodies, the Social Protection Fund and the Belgosstrakh state insurance company. Under the present procedure, the registration body, that is a justice agency, will be engaged in registration on its own and simultaneously with the legal entity's registration.

According to experts, the simplified procedure of registration of parties and NGOs will promote more adequate development and strengthening of the civil society in Belarus.

Belarus is a presidential republic, governed by a president and the National Assembly. In accordance with the constitution, the president is elected once every five years. The National Assembly is a bicameral parliament comprising the 110-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and the 64-member Council of the Republic (the upper house). The House of Representatives has the power to appoint the prime minister, make constitutional amendments, call for a vote of confidence on the prime minister, and make suggestions on foreign and domestic policy. The Council of the Republic has the power to select various government officials, conduct an impeachment trial of the president, and accept or reject the bills passed by the House of Representatives. Each chamber has the ability to veto any law passed by local officials if it is contrary to the Constitution of Belarus. Since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus.

The government includes a Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister. The members of this council need not be members of the legislature and are appointed by the president. The judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and specialized courts such as the Constitutional Court, which deals with specific issues related to constitutional and business law. The judges of national courts are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Council of the Republic. For criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court. The Belarusian Constitution forbids the use of special extrajudicial courts.

As of 2007, 98 of the 110 members of the House of Representatives were not affiliated with any political party and of the remaining twelve members, eight belong to the Communist Party of Belarus, three to the Agrarian Party of Belarus, and one to the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus. Most of the non-partisans represent a wide scope of social organizations such as workers' collectives, public associations and civil society organizations. Neither the pro-Lukashenko parties, such as the Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party and the Republican Party of Labour and Justice, nor the People's Coalition 5 Plus opposition parties, such as the Belarusian People's Front and the United Civil Party of Belarus, won any seats in the 2004 elections. Groups such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) declared the election "un-free" because of the opposition parties' poor results and media bias in favour of the government. In the country's 2006 presidential election, Lukashenko was opposed by Alexander Milinkievich, a candidate representing a coalition of opposition parties, and by Alexander Kazulin of the Social Democrats. Kazulin was detained and beaten by police during protests surrounding the All Belarusian People's Assembly. Lukashenko won the election with 80% of the vote, but the OSCE and other organizations called the election unfair.

Lukashenko has described himself as having an "authoritarian ruling style." Western countries have described Belarus under Lukashenko as a dictatorship; the government has accused the same Western powers of trying to oust Lukashenko. The Council of Europe has barred Belarus from membership since 1997 for undemocratic voting and election irregularities in the November 1996 constitutional referendum and parliament by-elections. The Belarusian government is also criticized for human rights violations and its actions against non-governmental organizations, independent journalists, national minorities, and opposition politicians. Belarus is the only nation in Europe that retains the death penalty for certain crimes during times of peace and war. As noted, Lukashenko has even gone as far as changing the country's constitution to allow him to remain in office for an unlimited amount of time after each election. In testimony to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice labelled Belarus among the six nations of the "outposts of tyranny." In response, the Belarusian government called the assessment "quite far from reality."

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14219994&PageNum=0

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