The parliamentary election and referendum in Belarus, October 2004

White, S. and Korosteleva-Polglase, E. (2006) The parliamentary election and referendum in Belarus, October 2004. Electoral Studies, 25(1), pp. 155-160. (doi: 10.1016/j.electstud.2005.06.003)

Abstract

Belarus became an independent state in December 1991 on the dissolution of the USSR; and it became a presidential state under its constitution of March 1994. At the first election under that constitution, in July 1994, Alexander Lukashenko won a convincing mandate with 80% of the vote in a second-round runoff against the then prime minister, Vyacheslav Kebich. Once elected, Lukashenko moved quickly to extend the powers of his office, which soon brought him into conflict with the Belarusian parliament (then known as the Supreme Soviet) and the Constitutional Court. He sought to resolve this by calling a referendum, in May 1995, when a positive vote allowed him to expand his presidential powers. In November 1996, a further and more controversial referendum approved an extension of the presidential term and replaced the parliament with a smaller and wholly subordinate National Assembly (Natsional'noe Sobranie). This was effectively a constitutional coup, which paved the way for the establishment of an increasingly authoritarian regime.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: White, Professor Stephen
• Authors: White, S., and Korosteleva-Polglase, E.
• Subjects: J Political Science > JA Political science (General); D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D839 Post-war History, 1945 on; J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe)
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Electoral Studies
• ISSN: 0261-3794
• ISSN (Online): 1873-6890
• Published Online: 08 August 2005
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2006 Elsevier
• First Published: First published in Electoral Studies 25(1):155-160
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher