Belarus

Population Statistics

9,589,689

Total Population

1,438,453

Population with a disability

according to World Health Organization’s 15% estimate

Election Dates

29 November 2016

Ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities


Constitution of the Republic of Belarus (1996, last amended 2004)

Updated: June 2015

Article 64 states:

The elections of deputies and other persons elected to state office by the people shall be universal: citizens of the Republic of Belarus who have reached the age of 18 shall be eligible to vote. Citizens who are deemed incapable by a court of law or held in places of confinement in accordance with the verdict of a court shall not take part in elections. Persons in respect of whom preventive punishment-detention is selected under the procedure specified in the law on criminal proceedings shall not take part in voting. Any direct or indirect restrictions on citizens' voting rights in other instances shall be impermissible and punishable by law. The age qualification of deputies and other persons elected to state positions shall be determined by corresponding laws, unless otherwise provided by the Constitution.

 

Article 88 states:

The President of the Republic of Belarus may be prematurely removed from office where he is persistently incapable to discharge his duties on account of the state of his health. The issue of removing the President shall be taken by a resolution of the House of Representatives adopted by a majority of no less than two-thirds of the elected deputies as determined by the Constitution and a majority of no less than two-thirds of the full composition as determined by the Constitution of the Council of the Republic on the basis of the findings of an ad hoc Commission formed by the Chambers of the Parliament. The President may be removed from office for acts of state treason and other grave crimes. The decision to file a charge against the President shall be supported by a majority of the whole House of Representatives on behalf of no less than one-third of the number of deputies. The investigation of the charge shall be exercised by the Council of the Republic. The President shall be deemed to be removed from office if the decision is adopted by no less than two-thirds of the full composition of the Council of the Republic, and no less than two-thirds of the full House of Representatives. The failure of the Council of the Republic and House of Representatives to take a decision to remove the President from office within a month since it was initiated shall make the move invalid. The move to remove the President from office may not be initiated in accordance with the provision of the Constitution in the course of the hearings on the premature termination of the powers of Parliament. Where the President is removed in connection with the commission of a crime, the case shall be examined on the merits of the charge by the Supreme Court.

 

Article 89 states:

Whether the office of President falls vacant or the President is unable to discharge his duties to the order as determined by the Constitution, his power shall be transferred to the Prime Minister until the President-elect is sworn in.

 

Excerpts from the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus (1996, last amended 2004)

Electoral Code to the Republic of Belarus (2000, last amended 2013)

Updated: June 2015

Article 4 states:

…Citizens recognized by court as incapable, persons being kept in institutions of confinement under the court sentence shall not participate in elections and in referendum. Persons in respect of whom detention, as a measure of restraint, is selected under the procedure specified in the criminal procedural legislation shall not take part in voting.

 

Article 133 states:

…In case of the deputy's illness confirmed by the respective document, the meeting of voters, upon a written application of the deputy, is adjourned to another date, but not later than 15 days from the date of his recovery. The deputy shall send a written notification about his recovery, within three days, to initiators of calling up the meeting, to the chairperson of the local Council of Deputies, and to the administration of the organization. The meeting of voters may be held, irrespective of the state of health of the deputy, upon expiry of four months after the first appointed date of the meeting…

 

Article 148 states:

…In the case of illness of the member of the Council of the Republic as confirmed by an appropriate document, the voting is postponed to another date but not later that 15 days from the day of his recovery. The member of the Council of the Republic, within three days of his recovery, must send a written notification to the presidium of the regional or the Minsk City Council of Deputies and the regional or the Minsk City Executive Committee. The voting may take place irrespective of the state of health of the member of the Council of the Republic upon the expiration of four months from the start of his illness….

 

Excerpts from the Electoral Code to the Republic of Belarus (2000, last amended 2013)