| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Natsionalnoye Sobranie / National Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Palata Predstaviteley / House of Representatives |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Soviet Respubliki / Council of the Republic
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
17 October 2004 |
| Timing and scope of renewal |
Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Representatives on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
|
On 17 October 2004
elections were held for the 110-member House of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley)
at the same time as a referendum to decide whether the Constitution should be changed to allow President Alexander Lukashenko to serve a third term.
359 candidates were registered for the parliamentary election by the district election commissions. Opposition parties protested that some 40 per cent of their candidates were denied registration. Among registered candidates
151 were nominated by political parties
including: Communist Party of Belarus (6); Liberal Democratic Party (38); Social Democratic National Agreement Party (2); Republican Party (1); the Popular Coalition Five Plus (104 candidates from a coalition of five opposition parties: Belarusian Popular Front
Belarus Social Democratic Party
Belarusian Party of Communists
Belarusian Social Democratic Party
United Civic Party). In addition
137 candidates came from workers' collectives and 71 were independents.
Following the invitation from the Belarus Central Election and Republican Referenda Commission
734 international observers representing 32 countries and eight international organizations - including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - monitored the elections
together with 24 000 national observers.
Concerns were raised about fair access to the media. The OSCE noted that candidates were granted a fixed amount of free television and radio airtime
and the possibility to print a statement free of charge in the state press. However
it also pointed out that 81.78 per cent of time on TV news between 9 September and 16 October was allocated to the President. In the weeks before the vote
nine independent newspapers were shut down. The Belarus government said that there was no link between the closure and the elections.
Opinion among observers on the overall procedure of the elections was divided. On one hand
CIS observers stated that the elections had been free and fair and the voting procedure had met world democratic standards. They highlighted the improvement in a number of legal norms of the electoral law since the presidential elections of 2001. On the other hand
the OSCE stated that the parliamentary elections had fallen significantly short of OSCE commitments for democratic elections. It criticized the lack of independence of the election commission and the lack of transparency during the voting and counting process. Opposition leaders also condemned the vote
saying it was marred by large-scale fraud aimed.
The Central Election Commission reported that 90.14 per cent of voters had taken part in the election.
The Central Election Commission also announced that 108 of the 110 members were elected in the first round
none of whom were from the opposition coalition. Thirty-one women were elected
representing nearly 29 percent of the lower house's membership.
On 27 October
a second round of voting was held in Novopolotsk constituency. After this
the Central Electoral and Referenda Commission confirmed the elections of 109 members. In Grodnensk Central constituency neither of the two candidates in the race obtained the necessary number of ballots at the second round. A third round of voting was thus held on 20 March 2005 to decide the winner. It was one by a candidate with no political party affiliation.
In the referendum
some 86 per cent voted in favor of the proposal to allow Mr. Lukashenko to run for a third term in 2006. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 17 October 2004 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
6'986'163
6'297'600 (90.14%)
201'462
6'096'138 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Others |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Communist Party of Belarus |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Agrarian Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Democratic Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Others |
98
|
|
|
|
|
| Communist Party of Belarus |
8
|
|
|
|
|
| Agrarian Party |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Democratic Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
78
32
29.09%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
|
1
3
38
60
7
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Others |
31 |
| Teachers |
30 |
| Economists |
26 |
| Lawyers |
13 |
| Medical doctors |
10 |
|
| Comments |
| Source: Natsionalnoye Sobranie Respubliki Belarus
Sekretariat Palaty Predstavitelei (04.03.2005
07.04.2005) |
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page