President of Belarus - Historical Background

Historical Background

Belarus
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Belarus
  • Constitution
  • President
    • Alexander Lukashenko
  • Government
    • Prime Minister
      • Mikhail Myasnikovich
  • National Assembly
    • Council of the Republic
    • House of Representatives
  • All Belarusian People's Assembly
  • Judiciary
    • Constitutional Court
    • Supreme Court
    • Economic Court
  • Elections
    • Presidential: 2006, 2010, 2015
    • Parliamentary: 2008, 2012
  • Foreign relations
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  • Other countries
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The Republic of Belarus was formed in 1991 shortly after declaring itself independent of the Soviet Union. Under the government of the Byelorussian SSR, the de facto leader of the Soviet Republic was the first secretaries of the Communist Party of Byelorussia, the only legal party in Soviet Belarus. From independence until passage of the Constitution in 1994, the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet was the head of state and the Prime Minister as the head of government. When the office of the presidency was created, the role of the prime minister was reduced to assisting the president and resulted in the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet, along with its Chairman, in 1996.

In the first set of elections for the office of president, the Prime Minister of Belarus, Vyachaslaw Kyebich, was defeated in a runoff vote by Alexander Lukashenko, resulting in Lukashenko becoming the first president. In elections of 2001 and 2006, which were contested by international observers, Western powers and internal opposition parties due for failing to meet democratic and fair standards, the incumbent Lukashenko defeated the other candidates within the first ballot. As of 2013, he is the only person to have served as President of Belarus.

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