According to the Constitution of Belarus, Belarus is a presidential republic. The transition from a semi-presidential system to a more presidential system took place after the referendum of 1996, when a change in Constitution led to substantial increase in the powers of the President.
The Constitution establishes the principle of division of power: legislative, executive and judicial bodies work independently within the frame of their competence.

General Division of Powers

 
The president is the head of state. The parliament, the legislative power at the national level, is the National Assembly (Natsionalnoe Sobranie, Национальное собрание). It is comprised of the Lower House: the House of Representatives (Palata Predstavitelei, Палата представителей), and the Upper House: the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki, Совет Республики). Executive power at the national level is concentrated in the government, through the Council of Ministers (Soviet Ministrov, Совет Министров) made up of 24 functional and sectoral Ministries and 7 State Committees.
There are 6 regions and the city of Minsk which serve as the 7 regional administrative units in Belarus. Regional governments, particularly regional executive committees, play the dominant role in the system of local government. Although legally speaking, they do not possess administrative control over other local governments, in practice, regional governments issue mandatory instructions and control implementation of all aspects of local government activity at lower levels.

Executive bodies at the local level operate on three levels : (1) the primary level (pervichnyy), which includes village, town and city territorial levels of authority; (2) the so-called basic level of authority (bazovyy), which includes cities located within the country’s administrative regions, as well as districts (rayony) that form part of administrative regions; and (3) oblast authorities corresponding to the country’s administrative regions (oblast), and including the Minsk capital city. At the sub-national level there are 1,328 self-governing local Councils of Deputies (mestnye Soviety, местные Советы) at these three territorial levels - 1193 primary units (township, village, town); 128 basic units (city, rayon); 7 regional units (oblast and Minsk city).

The Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Local Government and Self-government in the Republic of Belarus” No 617-II (February 20, 1991) established the principle of local government and self-government in Belarus and made provisions for the transfer of power the local Councils of Deputies. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus which was adopted on March 15, 1994, local bodies have the following functions: “resolve issues of local significance, proceeding from national interests and interests of the people who reside in the corresponding territory; implement decisions of higher state bodies”.

Subsequent decrees led to a number of changes in the organisation and the division of powers at the sub-national level:

• The Decree of the President No 383 “On Reforms of Local Government and Self-government” (September 19, 1995);
• The Decree of the President No 434 “On Unification of Administrative Units of the Republic of Belarus which have a common administrative center” (October 20, 1995) – which resulted in the abolition of district Councils of Deputies in cities and the establishment of district administrations that are accountable to the upper executive committees, and the unification of rayons with cities and towns in a single administrative unit. Under the constitutional amendment further to the 1996 referendum the president was empowered to influence local government and self-government through ‘staffing’ decisions and the cancellation of acts conflicting with national laws.

In 2010 a new Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Local Government and Self-government in the Republic of Belarus” No 108-3 (January 4) was passed laying out the principles of local government and self-government.
Main documents:

• The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, Section V, Articles 117-124;
• The Law of the Republic of Belarus “On local government and self-government in the Republic of Belarus” No 108-3 (January 4, 2010);
• The Budget Code of the Republic of Belarus No 412-З (July 16, 2008)
   

System of local election: Local citizens elect Councils of Deputies for four years through secret ballot. The number of deputies depends on the number of people residing in a territory: the system is based on single-member districts. As of 2014 (recent elections), there were 18,816 districts (and 18,809 deputies elected). Members of the Council of Deputies elect the Chair of the Council of Deputies from among the deputies by secret ballot. At the regional level, candidates are proposed by the members of the same Council of Deputies; at the local level, candidates are proposed by the members of the same Council of Deputies and by the Chair of the higher Council of Deputies. At the primary level, the Chair of the Council of Deputies is the Chair of the executive committee of the same level. He or she is elected by secret ballot among the deputies. The deputies of the Council of Deputies from the primary level and the Chair of the executive committee of the basic level propose candidates; then the Chair of the executive committee approves the elected person. If the Chair of the upper executive committee does not approve the candidate, then it falls to the Chair to propose the candidate for the Council of Deputies.

The president establishes the procedure for the appointment of officials to local executive and administrative bodies.

The president appoints and dismisses the Chair of the executive committee at the regional level. When the president makes an appointment, the Council of Deputies of the same level approves the chair in an open vote. If the Council of Deputies does not approve the Chair twice, the president makes the final decision.

The Chair of the executive committee at the regional level appoints and dismisses the Chair of executive committee at the basic level (in agreement with the President). The Council of Deputies at the same level approves the Chair by open voting. If the Council of Deputies does not approve the Chair twice, the Chair of the higher executive committee makes the final decision.
 

Central level

• Directs local executive bodies on certain issues;
• Controls local bodies in the field of law enforcement;
• Creates conditions for the training of local bodies employees;
• Assists local bodies in the organization of their activities;
• Regulates the relations of local executive bodies and other state bodies subordinated to the Council of Ministers;
• Delegates their powers to local bodies, if necessary
   

Regional level[1]

• allotting land plots and settling land disputes;
• approving state registration of holding companies, economic associations and others, within the framework of anti-monopoly control;
• ensuring state registration of economic entities and local public associations;
• ensuring balanced local budgets by establishing limits on the permissible level of local deficit;
• submitting proposals to the government on amendments to regional boundaries, on establishing or merging districts and on defining the borders of towns or cities of district subordination;
• regulating pricing within their competence;
• issuing licenses for secondary schools, lyceums and gymnasiums or for wholesale trade in alcohol and tobacco;
• implementing programs and measures designed to overcome the consequences of the Chernobyl accident;
• maintaining regional health facilities, such as clinics, hospitals and dispensaries;
• carrying out state control over the protection of air quality, water, forests, subsoil assets, plant and animal life;
• establishing administrative penalties for the violation of public order, if not otherwise regulated by law.
  

Local level

Local Councils of Deputies:

• Approve regional development programmes;
• Approve the procedure for communal property use;
• Address issues relating to administrative and territorial structures;
• Organise local referenda.

Local executive committees:

• Develop and introduce for approval by the Councils of Deputies management schemes for the local economy and communal property, as well as proposals for the organization of the protection of public order;
• Develop and introduce for approval by the Councils of Deputies projects or programmes of economic and social development, the local budget and report on their implementation to the Councils of Deputies;
• Ensure compliance of laws, decrees and other acts with the Constitution;
• Organize the income of local budgets and its target use;
• Decide on issue of local securities and conducts auctions;
• Manage communal property;
• Decides on the establishment, reorganization and liquidation of enterprises, organizations, institutions and associations of communal property;
• Issue permits for the location of enterprises, organizations, institutions and associations on local territory;
• Decides on issues of land management and land use (in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Belarus).

Exclusive competences:

• Approve regional development programs;
• Approve the procedure for communal property use;
• Organise local referenda.

[1] Extracted from ARL, http://www.arl-net.de/commin/belarus/33-regional-local-level-administrative-system ​