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On 11 April 1995, Parliament rejected three of the four issues to be put to national referendum on the same day as general elections, and President of the Republic Aleksandr Lukashenka – in office since July 1994 and a firm advocate of the issues – threatened its dissolution. The proposed referenda concerned closer ties with the Russian Federation and the President’s power to dissolve the legislature.
[edit] Results
Due especially to the multitude of candidates and the high thresholds required for election, only 18 Deputies were outright victors in the first round of voting and only 101 more (of 432 remaining candidates) in the second on 28 May. The resulting total of 119 fell short of the two-thirds (174) legal quorum which would have allowed the new legislature to sit. Polling for the remaining 141 seats accordingly took place on 29 November, when 865 candidates were in the running. Only 20 Deputies were then returned. On 10 December, runoffs between the two leading candidates were held in the other 121 constituencies; 59 more seats were then filled so that, with an overall total of 198 Deputies definitely chosen, the quorum was finally reached. Due to shortages in the applicable electoral majorities, 62 seats still remained vacant.
