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The politics of Belarus takes place in a framework of a Presidential Republic , whereby the President Of Belarus is both Head Of State and Head Of Government . Executive Power is exercised by the government. Legislative Power is vested in both the Government and the two chambers of parliament. Belarus 's declaration of independence on 27 July , 1990 , did not stem from long-held political aspirations but from reactions to domestic and foreign events. Ukraine 's declaration of independence, in particular, led the leaders of then Byelorussian SSR to realize that the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapsing, which It Did . After the establishment of a Republic on August 25 1991 , Stanislav Shushkevich was selected to be the first Belarusian leader and held this position until 1994 . During that time frame, Shushkevich directed his country in a way to become free from it's Soviet past and try to look towards to the West . His successor, Alexander Lukashenko , changed all of that upon assuming office in 1994 and began to turn his attention away from the West and back towards Russia . And, during his rule, Lukashenko began to re-instate Soviet-era functions and reintroduced the symbols from Soviet Byelorussia. Lukashenko, who currently leads Belarus today, has caused increased focus on his country due to his leadership manner, which has been considered authoritarian by some and a dictatorship by others. INDEPENDENCE The 's (BPF) calls for independence and efforts at nation-building failed to stir up the same strong emotions as movements in neighboring Ukraine and the Baltic States . Although the Supreme Soviet of the Belorussian SSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic on July 27 , 1990 (some two weeks after Russia had declared its own sovereignty), the March 1991 referendum held throughout the Soviet Union showed that 83 percent of Belorussians wanted to preserve the Soviet Union. Political change in Belarus came about only after the August 1991 Coup D'état In Moscow and a display of satisfaction by the Central Committee of the Communist Party Of Belarus (CPB) at the coup attempt--it never issued a condemnation of the coup plotters. Following the coup's collapse and declarations of independence by Estonia , Latvia , and Ukraine, Belarus declared its own independence on August 25 by giving its declaration of sovereignty the status of a constitutional document. On August 28 , Belarus's prime minister, Vyachaslaw Kyebich , declared that he and his entire cabinet had "suspended" their CPB membership. The next day, both the Russian and the Belarusian governments suspended the activities of the communist party. Liberals and nationalist reformers used this period of political confusion to advance their cause. On September 18 , the parliament dismissed its chairman, Mikalay Dzyemyantsyey, for siding with the coup and replaced him with his deputy, Stanislav Shushkevich . The next day, pressed by the small but vocal democratic opposition, the parliament changed the state's name from the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Republic of Belarus. A new national flag (three horizontal stripes, white- red-white) was adopted, along with a new coat of arms (Pahonia -- a mounted knight, Saint George , Patron Saint of Belarus, with a drawn sword -- the emblem of the Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ). On December 8 , Belarus joined Russia and Ukraine in signing the Minsk Agreement to form the Commonwealth Of Independent States (CIS), which formally put an end to the Soviet Union. On December 21 , Belarus signed the Alma-Ata Declaration, which expanded the CIS membership from the original three signatories of the Minsk Agreement to eleven states. And it was agreed that the headquarters of the CIS was to be in Minsk, a move that the government of Belarus welcomed as a means of attracting foreign attention. The democratic opposition in the Supreme Soviet, led by the twenty-seven-member BPF faction and some of its allies, continued pressing for a referendum on the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet and for new elections. The electorate seemed to be responsive. More than 442,000 signatures in support of the move were collected within three months, but the initiators had underestimated the conservatism of the Supreme Soviet. Meeting in mid-October . The Belarusian government headed by Prime Minister Kyebich consisted of former CPB functionaries and took a very conservative approach to economic and political reforms. Kyebich himself characterized his policy as "traditional" and warned about taking "extreme" positions. Belarus' conservative Supreme Soviet continued to put obstacles in the path of reform. A privatization law was finally passed in July 1993 , but it allowed collective and state farms to continue to exist and operate. Privatization of state-owned enterprises had barely begun in mid- 1995 , despite earlier efforts by Shushkyevich, who was largely a figurehead, to move along reform efforts. Conservative Kyebich, who actually controlled the ministries, was a temporary victor, when, in January 1994 , he survived a no-confidence vote that ousted Shushkyevich and replaced him with Kyebich's ally, Myechyslaw Hryb. 1994 ELECTIONS In the meantime, the Supreme Soviet adopted a constitution that went into effect on March 30 , 1994 , and created the office of president, who would now be the head of government instead of the prime minister. A quickly organized election was held in June, and a runoff election between the two highest vote-getters was held in July; in a surprise result, Kyebich was soundly beaten by populist Alexander Lukashenko , a youthful anticorruption crusader. Both Kyebich and Lukashenko took pro-Russian stands on economic and political matters, and both supported a quick monetary union with Russia. Lukashenko even called for outright unification with Russia, but it was his anticorruption stance that won him more than 80 percent of the vote. LUKASHENKO'S FIRST TERM After Lukashenko achieved his victory, the BPF granted him a three-month grace period during which it did not openly criticize his policies. Because his campaign promises had often been vague, he had great latitude within which to operate. And because Kyebich resigned after the election, taking his government with him, there were no problems in removing ministers. Lukashenko's presidency was one of contradictions from the start. His cabinet was composed of young, talented newcomers as well as Kyebich veterans who had not fully supported Kyebich. As a reward to the parliament for confirming his appointees, Lukashenko supported the move to postpone the parliamentary elections until May 1995 . Lukashenko's government was also plagued by corrupt members. Lukashenko fired the minister of defense, the armed forces chief of staff, the head of the border guards, and the minister of forestry. Following resignations among reformists in Lukashenko's cabinet, parliamentary deputy Syarhey Antonchyk read a report in parliament on December 20 , 1994 , about corruption in the administration. Although Lukashenko refused to accept the resignations that followed, the government attempted to censor the report, fueling the opposition's criticism of Lukashenko. Lukashenko went to Russia in August 1994 on his first official visit abroad as head of state. There he came to realize that Russia would not make any unusual efforts to accommodate Belarus, especially its economic needs. Nevertheless, Lukashenko kept trying; in February 1995 , Belarus signed the ''Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation with Russia'', making many concessions to Russia, such as allowing the stationing of Russian troops in Belarus, in hopes that Russia would return the favor by charging Belarus lower prices for fuels. However, because the treaty included no such provision, there was little hope of realizing this objective. Lukashenko had several disputes with parliament, mainly over the limits of presidential power (such as whether the president has the right to dissolve parliament). A hunger strike by opposition deputies, led by Zyanon Paznyak, began on April 11 , 1995 , after Lukashenko proposed four questions for a referendum and then stated that the referendum would be held regardless of parliament's vote. The protest ended when the striking deputies, forcibly evicted in the middle of the night during a search for an alleged bomb, found that the national television and radio building had been cordoned off as well because of another alleged bomb threat. After this incident, the parliament gave in on a number of matters, including the four referendum questions, because word of their strike now could not be publicized. The parliamentary elections held in May 1995 were less than successful or democratic. The restrictions placed on the mass media and on the candidates' expenditures during the campaign led to a shortage of information about the candidates and almost no political debate before the elections. In several cases, no one candidate received the necessary majority of the votes in the May 14 elections, prompting another round on May 28 . The main problem in the second round was the lack of voter turnout. After the second round, parliament was in limbo because it had only 120 elected deputies--it was still short of the 174 members necessary to seat a new legislature. Another round of elections was discussed, probably near the end of the year, but the government claimed to have no money to finance them. PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRATIZATION .]] Of the 346 deputies to the Belorussian Supreme Soviet elected in 1990 , fourteen were still vacant three years later, owing to voter apathy. There was also widespread apathy toward the political process and disbelief that what were being advertised as democratic ways would improve the situation. This general political malaise was then, and continued to be in 1995 , reflected in the feeble growth, small size, and low popularity of political parties. Although the 1990 and 1995 parliamentary elections were far from democratic, the predominance of conservatives in the legislature had deeper roots than just the lack of means for free expression and the strictures of the electoral procedure. A widely heard rhetorical question was, "What is more useful, sausage or freedom?" The conservative majority in parliament-- largely managers, administrators, and representatives of such groups as war veterans and collective and state farm managers-- had successfully slowed the pace of reforms, and the standard of living had decreased dramatically for most of the population. In view of the tremendous economic difficulties that accompanied the post-Soviet period, the years before Perestroika looked reasonably good to most citizens. The populace was frustrated by the misuse of a freedom whose benefits were measured predominantly in material terms. Nostalgia for the so-called good old days had been growing stronger ever since the country declared its independence, and the lack of political energy in the country hindered the growth of political parties not tied to the old ways. An example of political inertia is the debate on relations between Russia and Belarus. This debate has proceeded rather noisily and has been couched in cultural and historical terms, rather than in terms of the state's interests. National interests and foreign affairs are still deemed to be beyond the average citizen's competence, and the idea that the party/government knows best is still prevalent in the popular mind. The four-question referendum that had prompted the parliamentary hunger strike in April 1994 was held on May 15 , 1995 . The populace voted "yes" on all four questions: Russian as an official language, the return of a Soviet-era red and green flag, economic integration with Russia, and presidential power to dissolve the Supreme Soviet. The result hardly inspired confidence among aspiring democrats. EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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