Belarus Regierung Profil 2008

Hauptstadt

Name: Minsk
geographische Koordinaten: 53 54 N, 27 34 E
Zeitunterschied: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Unabhängigkeit

25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Nationalfeiertag

Unabhängigkeit, 3 Juli (1944); note - 3 Juli 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union

Konstitution

15 März 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 Oktober 2004 removing presidential term limits

Wahlrecht

18 Jahre; universal

Exekutive

Staatsoberhaupt: Staatspräsident Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (seit dem 20 July 1994)
Regierungschef: Prime Minister Sergey SIDORSKIY (seit dem 19 December 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir SEMASHKO (seit dem December 2003)
cabinet: Council of Ministers
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; subsequent election held 9 September 2001; an October 2004 referendum ended presidential term limits and allowed the president to run in a third election, which was held on 19 March 2006; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 82.6%, Aleksandr MILINKEVICH 6%, Aleksandr KOZULIN 2.3%; note - election marred by electoral fraud