Belarus: A New Country in Eastern Europe
Выдавец: Тэхналогія
Памер: 72с.
Мінск 1994
A new stage in the history of Belarusan statehood began on the 27th of July 1990 when the BSSR Supreme Soviet adopted the Declaration "On the State Sovereignty of the BSSR". On the 25th of August 1991 the BSSR Supreme Soviet declared the political and economic independence of Belarus. On the 11th of December 1991 The Supreme Soviet ratified the Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, signed on the 8th of December 1991 by the leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in Viskuli in Belavezha Forest. Simultaneously the Supreme Soviet denounced the treaty on the creation of the USSR. The final legal act that pronounced Belarus a new democratic state in Eastern Europe was the new Constitution of the Republic of Belarus adopted by the Supreme Soviet on the 15th of March 1994.
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Leaders of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia sign an agreement on liquidation of USSR and establishing of the CIS on December 8, 1991 in Viskuli, Belavezha Forest in Belarus
The city of Minsk is the capital of Belarus. It is an ancient city known from 1067. During its long history it was several times ruined by foreign invaders. When the Red Army soldiers and partisans liberated the city during World War II, 95 % of Minsk lay in ruins. Only after many years the Belarusans managed to restore the city. Now Minsk has a population of 1.8 million. After the USSR's collapse Minsk became the Coordination Center of the CIS, the headquarters of the Executive Secretariat of the CIS. This fact strengthens the reputation of Belarus as a state of social stability and economic reliability.
Бйблмотека
СШ № 130 г, Ммнска пнв. №
Inhabitants of Belavezha Forest — zubr (aurochs — European bison)
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3. State System
As you know the complete power in Belarus from 1919 till 1991 belonged to the Communist party. In the framework of such ideologized and monopolized power system democracy couldn't possibly exist. Elections had a very formal character as only the leading Party organs decided who could represent the voters in the Supreme Soviet and m the local Soviets. The Communist party made decisions in all the spheres of the Belarusan people and Belarusan state life. This is proved by the fact that practically all the branches of power till 1990 were the functional limbs of the party organs
According to the new Constitution on the highest state level there is the legislative power — the Supreme Soviet, the executive one — Cabinet of Ministers headed by the head of the state, the President, and the legal power represented by the Supreme, the High Economic and the Constitutional courts. On the level of administrative and territorial units there exist local organs of power - the local deputies' Soviets, executive and directive organs. The Soviets of local deputies elect the executive committees of territorial units and they solve local problems m the framework of their power but basing on the state interests and on the m-terests of people living on the territory, they fulfill the directives of the higher level state organs. According to the Act on the local government the head of the local Soviet is simultaneously the head of the local executive committee.
From 1990 till 1995 the higher legislative power belongs to the Supreme Soviet of Belarus. The higher executive power belongs to the President of the Republic of Belarus to be elected by the al!-people vote on the 23d of June 1994.
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Flag of the Republic of Belarus
Coat of arms of the Republic of Belarus
The structure of the state system and of the main political institutions of Belarus started to change after the first relatively democratic elections to the higher organ of the legislative power — the Supreme Soviet — in 1990 and also after the adoption of the new Constitution of the Republic of Belarus on the 15th of March 1994.
Now the Communist power monopoly has been liquidated in Belarus. As a result the monolith of the Communist totalitarian system started to break and democratic processes started to develop in Belarus.
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Nevertheless the Communist party elite has preserved its influence in the higher as well as in the local government organs. Having an enormous influence on taking legislative decisions it tries by all means to slow down the political and economic reforms, the democracy development in Belarus. For example, the Communists prevent the full division of the legislative and executive power in Belarus. Now a great number of the Supreme Soviet members work simultaneously in the high and local executive organs, which very often brings legislative and executive organs into conflict, thus weakening and undermining the authority of the power and leading to favoritism of the narrow group interests. This condition has remained in the new Constitution, unfortunately.
In August 1991 the Supreme Soviet of Belarus suspended the activities of the Communist party. A lot of party officials became unemployed. But not for a long time. Soon they took the high positions in the executive organs and most of them became the main hindrance to economic and political reforms in Belarus. In 1992 the adherents of the faster democratic changes in Belarus have collected more than 400 thousand signatures of Belarus citizens to support the all-nation referendum on the issue of pre-term parliamentary elections. But the Supreme Soviet, the majority of which consists of Communists voted down this initiative.
Now the Supreme Soviet of Belarus numbers 345 deputies. 295 deputies were elected by direct poll in the electoral districts. 50 deputies were elected by the public organizations of invalids and veterans. It should be noted that in 15 electoral districts, due to the ineffective old voting system deputies to the Supreme Soviet were not elected at all.
The majority of the Supreme Soviet deputies have to work at the same time in other state or commercial institutions. Only 70 deputies out of 345 work in the higher legislative organ full-time and on the professional basis (this is only 1/5 of all the deputies). To get the right to work in the Parliament professionally one must get the majority of votes, in other words get permission of the Parliament.
After 1990 elections 90% of the Supreme Soviet deputies were Communist party members. But many of them left the party after August 1991 the pro-Communist forces in Moscow attempted to overthrow the legitimate USSR government and the President of Russia Boris Yeltsyn. Nevertheless the majority of deputy mandates in Belarusan Parliament
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still belongs to the Communists who greatly influence the decision making. Nearly 95% of the deputies have higher education diplomas. The majority of the deputies belong to the technical intelligentsia, which in many cases enables the Supreme Soviet, despite the communist influence to follow common sense and economic expediency, not the communist dogmas. And one must note that a sound conservatism in some way saves Belarus from social upheavals.
In the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus there are 19 fulltime commissions, the main ones being:
Commission on defence and national safety;
Commission on foreign affairs;
Budget and finance commission;
Economic reforms commission;
Industrial commission;
Commission on employment and social security.
Chairmen of the full-time commissions are members of the Supreme Soviet Presidium. According to the Constitution the Presidium works in between the sessions of the Parliament. One of the main duties of the Presidium is the preparation of the Supreme Soviet sessions and the fulfillment of numerous organizing functions. The Presidium considers the questions of appointing ambassadors, granting citizenship and pardon. Since January 1994 the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus has been Mechislav Gnb.
According to the Parliament procedure the parties' representatives can unite and work in groups. In the present Supreme Soviet there are several groups. The biggest and most influential (over 100 deputies) is the Communist group "Belarus". The second influential, though much smaller in number, is the Belarusan Popular Front (BPF) group, which stands in opposition to the Parliament majority. These two groups take the opposite stands. The Communists want to revive the totalitarian system, BPF struggles for a speedy democratization of society and for the liberalization of the economy. There are also several other groups that hold more moderate centrist positions but they are neither numerous nor active enough to be m the highlight.
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Tn 1990, in accordance with the former Constitution the Supreme Soviet of the 12th convocation elected the supreme executive organ, the Council of Mimsters. After the first presidential elections in Belarus the President should reform the Council of Ministers into the Cabinet. Before the adoption of the new Constitution on the 15th of March 1994 the Council of Ministers was rather a bulky structure, with its 20-odd ministers and over 10 State Committees heads. All these high officials were elected by the Supreme Soviet individually. The candidates were presented by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was chosen by the Supreme Soviet from the candidates presented by the Supreme Soviet Chairman. The supreme executive organ in Belarus ought to determine the effective development of economic and social and political situation in Belarus in accordance with the laws adopted by the Supreme Soviet.
According to the new Constitution the head of the state and the chief executive is the President of the Republic of Belarus. To organize the executive powers in the fields of economy, foreign policy, defence, national security and other spheres of state the President of the Republic of Belarus creates the Cabinet of Ministers. The members of the Cabinet are appointed and dismissed by the President. The Prime Minister, his deputies. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Internal Affairs Minister, KGB Chairman are appointed and dismissed by the President with approval of the Supreme Soviet. The Prime Minister governs the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers.
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