At stake in this election:

• 110 seats in the House of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY
• Assembly: Belarus has a bicameral Parliament (Natsionalnoye Sobranie) consisting of the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki) with 64 seats and the House of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley) with 110 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki), 56 members are elected by regional governing councils to serve 4-year terms and 8 members are appointed by the president to serve 4-year terms. In the House of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley) 110 members are elected by majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Belarusian Communist Party / Kamunisty
• Agrarian Party
• Independents

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 9,528,000 (2008 est.)
• Registered voters: 7,016,711 (2008)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,092,214 (2008)

·         Is Belarus a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Belarus ratified CEDAW: Yes (4 February 1981)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 35 (following 2008 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 50 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Belarus a signatory to CRPD: Yes (28 September 2015)

·         Has Belarus ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 1,429,200 (est.)