The All Belarusian People's Assembly ( be, Усебеларускі народны сход, russian: Всебелорусское народное собрание) is a general meeting of the

Belarusian Government The Government of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Урад Рэспублікі Беларусь), which consists of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus (), is the executive branch of state power in Belarus, and is appointed by the ...

with industry leaders and other top officials from every sector of the government.

History

The first Assembly was held October 19–20, 1996, a few weeks before the controversial

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

which was used to legitimize the concentration of power in the hands of president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука� ...

. The second Assembly took place in May 2001, the third in March 2006, the fourth in 2010, the fifth in 2016, and the sixth in 2021.

Criticism

Members of the Belarusian opposition are actively criticizing the Assemblies for allegedly being

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

events organized to demonstrate unanimous support to the country's authoritarian leader

. Members of the opposition have regularly been denied access to the Assembly or prevented from speaking at it. In 2006,

presidential candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

and former rector of the

Belarusian State University Belarusian State University (BSU) ( be, links=no, Белару́скі дзяржа́ўны ўніверсітэ́т, ; russian: links=no, Белору́сский госуда́рственный университе́т) is a university in Mins ...

Alyaksandr Kazulin Alyaksandr Kazulin ( be, Аляксандр Уладзіслававіч Казулін, russian: Александр Владиславович Козулин, born 25 November 1955 in Minsk) is the former leader of the Belarusian Social Democr ...

, was beaten and detained by police after attempting to enter the All Belarusian People's Assembly. He was charged with disorderly conduct and released after being held in custody for eight hours. Opposition parties have characterized the Assemblies as an "unconstitutional body" whose aim was to "delegitimize the institute of

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in Belarus" and to "demonstrate nationwide support o Alexander Lukashenkoahead of the presidential elections".Беларусам патрэбны сапраўдны парлямэнт, а не імітацыйны ‘усенародны сход’
- "Belarusians need a real parliament and not the imitational 'People's Assembly'", statement by

BPF Party The BPF Party ( be, Партыя БНФ, Partyja BNF; russian: Партия БНФ, Partiya BNF) is a political party in Belarus. It was de facto established after the split of the social movement Belarusian Popular Front ( abbr. BPF; be, Бел ...

, 18.06.2016 Critics describe the procedure of appointing delegates to the Assembly as non-transparentМихаил Пастухов: О легитимности и пользе собрания
- Mikhail Pastukhou (former Judge of the

Constitutional Court of Belarus The Constitutional Court of Belarus is one of the top-tier courts in the eastern European country. Created in 1994, the Court is run under guidelines that were issued in 1997. The purpose of the court is to render justice in areas where the consti ...

): About the legitimacy and the use of the congress - Official website of the

United Civic Party of Belarus The United Civic Party (UCP; be, Аб'яднаная грамадзянская партыя; АГП, Abjadnanaja hramadzianskaja partyja; AHP; russian: Объединённая гражданская партия; ОГП, Obyedinonnaya grazhdans ...

, 12.07.2016 and undemocratic, similar to the procedure of appointing delegates to the

Congresses of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (russian: съезд КПСС) was the supreme decision-making body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Its meetings served as convention of all party delegates and their predecess ...

during Soviet times.Вайтовіч і Ганчарык: Усебеларускі сход — фігавы лісток для ўлады
Hancharyk:_The_All-Belarusian_Assembly_is_a_fig_leaf_for_the_government.html" ;"title="Uładzimir_Hančaryk.html" ;"title="aytovich and Uładzimir Hančaryk">Hancharyk: The All-Belarusian Assembly is a fig leaf for the government">Uładzimir_Hančaryk.html" ;"title="aytovich and Uładzimir Hančaryk">Hancharyk: The All-Belarusian Assembly is a fig leaf for the government- TUT.BY, 03.12.2010 The critics point out that the Assembly "cannot be accepted as a legitimate expresser of the will of the Belarusian people. It was formed by orders of the executive bodies and is not a representative democratic body. Given that only and exclusively supporters of the policies of the current government will be present at the so-called Assembly, this body is unable to accomplish the task of national consolidation."

References

External links

*{{in lang, ru
The law on All Belarusian and local assembliesThe 2016 Belarusian People's Congress: the Illusion of Democracy
Government of Belarus Propaganda in Belarus