The House of Representatives is supposed to hold its first session no later than November 29. Meanwhile, journalists will observe a dull campaign of electing the Council of Republic, the upper chamber of the National Assembly, which is to be formed till December 13 under the presidential edict. It is likely that all the newly elected members of parliament will hold a joint session before the New Year, to listen to Aliaksandr Lukashenka's speech or the cabinet's report or to hold some parliamentary hearings.

The runoff rounds of elections, which took place on October 29, showed a usually high voter turnout. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), the turnout averaged 52.64 percent. Brest region showed a fantastic 63.3 percent turnout. In the first round of elections, which were held two weeks before, the voting results in the region were invalid in 5 electoral districts of 16, because turnout was below the required 50 percent. After the authorities gave an admonition to the regional authorities, the chairman of the Brest regional executive committee Vasil Dauhaliou used the administrative resource in full.

The voter turnout was the lowest in Minsk, like on October 15, in spite of the authorities' efforts. Only 32.2 of eligible voters came to the polls on October 29. But since the electoral law provides for a 25-percent threshold for runoff rounds, it was enough for the second round to be considered valid in 14 Minsk districts, as well as in all the other districts where runoff rounds were held.

The October 15 first round filled 41 seats in the House of Representatives, and 56 more deputies were elected in the October 29 runoff. This number is enough to make the lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly functional. Thus the authorities have met their objective of forming the legislative body. It is evident that in the new Belarusian parliament the majority of MPs will be loyal to the president.

The newly elected deputies absolutely fit Lukashenka's wishes. Those elected will fulfil "the people's will", not political parties or social groups. Thirty-five members of the outgoing lower house were re-elected in the two rounds. This makes about a third of the chamber, which Lukashenka believes, is necessary to preserve legislative continuity. Those candidates who were re-elected, are heads of local administrations and their deputies, cabinet members, officers of financial and tax agencies, of the State Control Committee, the State Security Committee, prosecutors, heads of large industrial and agricultural enterprises, several directors of schools and chief physicians of hospitals. Some representatives of democratic opposition were elected, too - Volha Abramava, leader of the liberal movement Yabloko, and Uladzimir Navasiad, ex-member of the United civic Party and current leader of the opposition youth organization Hramadzianski Forum (Civil Forum). They are to represent the so-called constructive opposition in parliament. In the outgoing parliament, this role was performed by a deputy chairman of the international commission, Piotr Zhushma. In this year's elections he failed being elected, but is rumored to get a good position in the Foreign Ministry soon. The election of Abramava and Navasiad is a sign to the opposition that the authorities can pay for their loyalty.

There will hardly be factions in the newly elected parliament. The parties failed to show any positive result during the elections. Of 97 candidates elected, according to the CEC, only 16 are members of political parties. The pro-presidential Communist Party of Belarus won 6 seats, the Agrarian Party 5 seats, the Republican Party of Labor and Justice 2 seats. One candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party - Aliaksej Vahanau (director general of the car dealership Lada OMC), one candidate of the Social Democratic Party of People's Concord - Ivan Pashkevich (ex-deputy chairman of the Presidential Administration) and one candidate of the Belarusian Social Sports Party - Uladzimir Aleksandrovich (director general of the Itera-Bel company) were elected to parliament. Three parties - the Belarusian Patriotic Party, the Republican Party and the Belarusian Party of Communists - did not win a single seat. The latter claims, though, that one of its representative was elected, without specifying its party membership. Anyway, one candidate of 71 nominated is a very modest result.

The composition of the newly elected House of Representatives makes one believe that they will hardly need more powers. They are quite content with what they have now. It is unlikely that they will want to leave their present cozy positions and concentrate on law-making activity, which is provided for by the Constitution. Besides, the CEC chairperson Lidzija Yarmoshyna explained that the deputies' professional work in parliament will be controlled by a mandate commission set up by the candidates. Perhaps, some prominent Belarusian businessmen will be chosen the commission's members, such as Aleksandrovich, Vahanau, or Raman Ananjeu, president of the private stock oil and gas company Belneftegaz, or Mikail Baravy, president of the private stock company BelAvtogaz, or Uladzimir Dzialendzik, director general of the private enterprise Darida, which produces soft drinks and mineral water. It is hardly possible that they will take away deputies' mandates from each other. More likely, the commission will let things slide, as it often happens in Belarus. If not, the above-mentioned businessmen will find loopholes not to abandon their high positions.

The new House of Representatives will copy the activities of their outgoing hardworking colleagues - those of providing legislative support to the political and economic course pursued by Aliaksandr Lukashenka. They will approve numerous presidential decrees and bills prepared in the Presidential Administration. While their predecessors processed about 400 bills during their term, the new MPs can commit themselves to enacting 1,000 ones, for instance. What else can they do if the civilized world is not going to recognize their legitimacy?