* The EU Venice Commission has cited numerous concerns regarding the formulation and contents of the referendum. Chiefly, the Commission has highlighted a lack of transparency throughout the drafting process of the referendum. Moreover, the institution has expressed further concern over many of the proposed constitutional changes, which they say may further “aggravate” the strong imbalance of powers which exist under the current constitution. [2]

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) 
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Roman GOLOVCHENKO (since 4 June 2020) 
• Assembly: The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus (Нацыянальны сход Рэспублікі Беларусь) is a bicameral legislature consisting of an upper house, the 64-member Council of the Republic (Савет Рэспублікі), and the lower house, the 110-member House of Representatives (Палата прадстаўнікоў) 

Electoral System: [3]

• The President is elected for a five-year term using a simple majority vote.** 
• The Prime Minister leads the Council of Ministers (Савет Міністраў), or the collection of deputies and ministers which constitute the Government of Belarus. Prime ministerial candidates are proposed by the president and subsequently confirmed by the National Assembly (Нацыянальны сход). 
• The House of Representatives (Палата прадстаўнікоў) consists of 110 deputies who are elected within single member constituencies to serve four-year terms using a first-past-the-post system. 
• The Council of the Republic (Савет Рэспублікі) consists of 64 deputies, with representation being determined under the premises of equal regional representation. Eight deputies are elected to represent each of the six oblasts and the city of Minsk. Voting occurs by secret ballot in specially held sessions convened by each of the six regional councils and city council of Minsk. 

** Presidential term limits were abolished following a controversial 2004 referendum, thereby allowing Aleksandr LUKASHENKO to legally run for a third term. [4]

Last Election: 

• The previous elections were held on 9 August 2020.*** 

*** The 2020 presidential elections saw incumbent Aleksandr LUKASHENKO defeat opponent Svetlana TIKHANOVSKAYA after officially securing 80.1 percent of the vote, according to the Belarussian Central Election Commission. However, the elections were quickly and widely condemned as being fraudulent. [5]

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 9,452,482 (February 2022 est.) [6]
• Registered Voters: 6,844,932 (2020) [7]

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 5,058,618 (February 2022 est.) [8]
• Is Belarus a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (signed 17 July 1980) [9]
• Has Belarus ratified CEDAW:  Yes (ratified 4 February 1981) [10]
• Gender Quota: In 2004, President LUKASHENKO set an informal target of 30 percent for female representation in the National Assembly (Нацыянальны сход). [11]
• Female candidates in this election: N/A 
• Number of Female Legislators: Women hold 15 out of 64 seats in the Council of the Republic and 44 out of 110 seats in the House of Representatives. [12]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: Rank 53 at 0.823 (2020) [13]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low [14]

Disability Data: 

• Is Belarus a signatory to CRPD: Yes (signed on 28 September 2015) [15]
• Has Belarus ratified CRPD: Yes (ratified on 29 November 2016) [16]
• Population with a disability: 1,438,453 (2022 est.) [17]

[1] https://president.gov.by/en/documents/ukaz-no-14-ot-20-yanvarya-2022-g-1642747931

[2] https://www.coe.int/en/web/human-rights-rule-of-law/-/belarus-constitutional-amendments-put-to-referendum-fail-to-correct-existing-strong-imbalance-of-powers-says-venice-commission

[3] https://www.belarus.by/en/government

[4] https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6276009

[5] https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/belarus-presidential-elections/

[6] https://countrymeters.info/en/Belarus

[7] https://eng.belta.by/politics/view/cec-reveals-number-of-eligible-voters-in-belarus-presidential-election-132023-2020/

[8] https://countrymeters.info/en/Belarus

[9] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

[10] Ibid.

[11] https://rm.coe.int/16806c3fa5

[12] https://data.ipu.org/content/belarus?chamber_id=13335

[13] https://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/BLR

[14] https://www.genderindex.org/country-profiles/

[15] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

[16] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

[17] http://www.electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/by/all/