|
Belarus Independent Belarus
Following the
August 1991 coup d'état (see Glossary) in
Moscow and declarations of independence by Estonia,
Latvia, and
Ukraine, the Supreme Soviet in Minsk declared the
independence of
Belarus on August 25, 1991, by giving its Declaration of
State
Sovereignty the status of a constitutional document and
renaming
the country the Republic of Belarus.
The disorientation that overtook the communists in the
wake
of the coup was used by liberals and nationalist reformers
in
various structures to advance their cause: the Supreme
Soviet
forced the resignation of its chairman, Mikalay
Dzyemyantsyey,
for siding with the coup leaders and replaced him with his
deputy, Stanislaw Shushkyevich; all CPB property was
nationalized; the name of the state was officially changed
from
the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Republic
of
Belarus; and the CPB was temporarily suspended while its
role in
the coup was investigated.
Shushkyevich's support for the continuation of some
kind of
union culminated on December 8, 1991, in his signing of
the Minsk
Agreement
(see
Appendix C), which established the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS--see Glossary). On December 21,
eleven
former Soviet republics expanded the CIS by issuing the
Alma-Ata
Declaration
(see Appendix D).
Minsk became the
headquarters of
the CIS.
After much negotiation and considerable revision, the
Supreme
Soviet adopted a new constitution, which went into effect
on
March 30, 1994. The new document created the office of
president,
declared Belarus a democracy with separation of powers,
granted
freedom of religion, and proclaimed Belarus's goal of
becoming a
neutral, nonnuclear state. The winner of the quickly
organized
election was Alyaksandr Lukashyenka, whose pro-Russian
sentiments
and policies seemed, however, destined to reunite Belarus
with
Russia in some way. Treaties were signed with Russia that
made
political concessions to the latter in hopes of creating
economic
advantages for Belarus. And there were clashes with
parliament
over the issue of presidential powers.
In the campaigning for the May 1995 parliamentary
elections,
continuing censorship of the media's campaign coverage
demonstrated the less-than-democratic nature of the state.
In
response to the lack of information and as a consequence
of
continued political apathy on the part of the populace,
two
rounds of elections failed to elect enough deputies to
seat a new
Supreme Soviet. And Lukashyenka continued to accumulate
increasing power through his appointments and dismissals.
Data as of June 1995
|
