The first surprise came when the proposal to form parliamentary committees by the regional principle failed. According to the principle, two deputies from each region and the city of Minsk could become committee chairmen. Of the 14 parliamentary committees, the city of Minsk, and the Minsk, Mahiliou and Homel regions secured two chairmen positions each. Vitsebsk region representatives secured four chairmen positions. Brest and Hrodna regions' deputies chaired only one committee each. The regional principle was not taken into account while choosing deputy chairmen of the committees, which shows that previous agreements gave in to the deputies' personal interests.

The distribution of the parliamentary positions crushed the hopes of the members of the first House of Representatives to dominate in the new House. It came out that the newly elected deputies cared little about continuity in parliament. As a result, many of the members of the first House of Representatives had to say good-buy to their ambitious plans to be parliamentary gurus and teach their new colleagues the law-making secrets.

Overall, members of the first House of Representatives retained positions in nine of 14 committees. However, only Valiantsin Kruchkou managed to retain his position of chairman. Anatol Krasutski, former chairman of the Committee on State System Building, suffered the most devastating defeat. There was little doubt that he would be easily re-elected. Krasutski had pushed in the old parliament for anti-democratic election laws; he also actively participated in the public dialog initiated by Lukashenka. No one dared to challenge Krasutski, but he received only 28 votes.

Krasutski's was not the worst record. Siarhej Dubovik, chief editor of the cabinet-owned newspaper Respublika, who claimed chairmanship in the Committee on Human Rights, Ethnic Relations and the Media, received only 3 votes. His colleagues must have been discouraged by his speech, in which he promised to create a parliamentary monitoring group with each national mass medium (like the one that the Communists have been trying to introduce in the Russian parliament for several years).

The Committee on Human Rights looks the least efficient in terms of professionalism. It includes two agronomists, the chairman of a local executive committee, the head of the state-run oil company Mogilyovnefteprodukt, the above-mentioned editor Dubovik, the former deputy head of the Presidential Administration Ivan Pashkevich and businessman Yury Marozau, who was elected as an independent candidate.

The personnel policy of the newly elected members of parliament is hard to explain logically. Members of the first House of Representatives took offence at not being appreciated. They abandoned their old positions for new committees. So, the former chairman of the agrarian committee Mikalaj Kutsko became member of the budget committee and the former chairman of the budget committee found himself in the agrarian committee. Perhaps after four years of parliamentary experience the deputies have found their true law-making mission.

The international commission became the mainstay of the old parliamentary corps. Of its ten members, eight served in the first House of Representatives. Anatol Malafejeu, former speaker, became its chairman. It is not clear, though, how the House is going to solve the problem of international recognition. The international community would hardly deal with Malafejeu or such notorious deputies as Siarhej Kastsian or Aliaksandr Shpileuski. The only deputy who could help establish contacts with the Western parliaments - Volha Abramava, the leader of the liberal Yabloko public association - found herself in the Committee on Legislation.

Another significant event in the history of the newly elected parliament is that the economic committee split into two by the efforts of the weighty oil and gas group on the one hand and trade and industrial group on the other. Their representatives headed the committees. Mikhail Baravy, president of the private joint stock company BelAvtogaz, became chairman of the Committee on Industry, Fuel and Energy Complex, Transportation, Communications and Enterprise. His deputy chairmen are Mikalaj Skutau, director general of the Belarusian-Russian-Ukrainian oil company BelRosUkrneft, and Viachaslau Kebich, president of the Belarusian Industrial and Financial Union and prime minister from 1990 to 1994. The Committee on Housing Policy, Construction, Trade and Privatization is chaired by Vasil Khrol, president of Belarusian Real Estate Association. His deputy chairman is Kiryl Khalopik, deputy director general of the Real Estate and Estimate Institute. Another well-known Belarusian businessman - Aliaksej Vahanau - became chairman of the Commission on Monetary Policy and Banking. Though not a banker, he can count money.

Judging by the facts, Belarus has the worst legislative body of all possible. The newly elected House of Representatives will become an assembly of people concerned about their personal interests. Deputies who loyally serve the authorities will receive the maximum of preferences for their businesses or will be promoted on the personnel ladder. This is how Lukashenka sees the constructive cooperation of the two branches of power.

The list of the committees' members is given below.

Committee on Legislation and Judicial and Legal Matters

Chairman - Aliaksandr Arkhipau, (district prosecutor in Mahiliou)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Mikhail Miranovich (district prosecutor in Homel)

3. Maryja Pratashchyk (chairperson of Hrodna regional State Control Committee)

4. Anatol Salaujou (deputy chief of the police department of Homel Regional Executive Committee)

Committee members:

5. Volha Abramava (director of scientific and educational programs of the analytical center Strategiya, leader of the liberal movement Yabloko)

Committee on National Security

Chairman - Barys Bikkinin (deputy minister of emergency situations)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Vasil Harhun (member of the outgoing House of Representatives, member of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice)

3. Ivan Kibak (Police academy senior instructor)

4. Uladzimir Marozau (deputy chief of the Mahiliou department of the State Security Committee (KGB))

5. Valiantsin Simirski (director general of Swiss representative office Nellant)

Committee members:

6. Piotr Ivanenka (deputy prosecutor general of Belarus)

7. Anatol Babkou (chairman of the permanent Committee on Legislation of the first House of Representatives)

8. Uladzimir Reznikau (deputy chief of the Brest regional department of the State Security Committee (KGB))

9. Yury Andrejeu (commanding officer of a Pinsk-based military unit)

10. Valery Fralou (officer of the Ministry of Defense)

Committee on State System Building, Local Self-Government and Rules of Procedure

Chairman - Mikhail Sasonka (deputy chairman of the Committee in the first House of Representatives)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Uladzimir Lukashevich (head of Vaukavysk district executive committee)

3. Ivan Semianenia, (head of Liuban legal advise office)

4. Mikhail Orda (second secretary of the Central committee of the pro-presidential Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union)

Committee members:

5. Uladzimir Navasiad (legal adviser of the Molodyozhny prospect newspaper, leader of the opposition youth organization Civil Forum

Committee on Agrarian Matters

Chairman - Aliaksandr Azarchankau (member of the permanent Committee on Agrarian Issues in the first House of Representatives, member of the Agrarian Party)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Stanislau Zdanovich (chairman of local executive committee in Hrodna region)

3. Aliaksandr Zinchanka (chairman of the permanent Committee on Budget and Finance in the first House of Representatives)

4. Piotr Razynka (member of the first House of Representatives)

Committee members:

5. Valiantsin Papruha, (head of the collective farm Progress, member of the Agrarian Party)

Committee on Education, Culture, Science and Scientific and Technological Progress

Chairman - Ihar Katliarou (deputy chairman of the permanent Commission on Human Rights and Ethnic Relations in the first House of Representatives, member of the Communist Party of Belarus)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Tatsiana Audzejeva (chairperson of the Mahiliou regional committee of the trade union of workers of culture)

3. Uladzimir Dzialendzik (director general of the private soft drinks enterprise Darida)

4. Uladzimir Zdanovich (director of Drahichyn school, Brest region)

Committee members:

5. Valery Zakharchanka (deputy chairman of Brest Regional Executive Committee, member of Communist Party of Belarus)

6. Uladzimir Pechankou (director of Orsha school, Vitsebsk region)

7. Siarhej Paroshyn (deputy head of the Savetski district administration in Homel)

8. Usevalad Yancheuski (first secretary of the Central committee of the pro-presidential Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union)

Committee on Human Rights, Ethnic Relations and the Media

Chairman - Valery Lipski, (director general of agricultural trade company Dnepr, member of the first House of Representatives)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Mikhail Anikejeu (assistant professor at Belarusian Agriculture Academy, member of the first House of Representatives, member of the Communist Party of Belarus)

3. Aliaksandr Sviryd (head of the district executive committee (Brest region), deputy minister of emergency situations, deputy chairman of the permanent Commission on Human Rights and Ethnic Relations of the first House of Representatives,)

4. Aliaksandr Chachora (director general of the state-run oil company Mogilyovnefteprodukt)

Committee members:

5. Ivan Pashkevich (former deputy head of the Presidential Administration, member of the permanent Committee on International Affairs and Relations with CIS of the first House of Representatives, member of the Social Democratic Party of People's Concord)

6. Siarhej Dubovik (chief editor of the state-run newspaper Respublika)

7. Yury Marozau (deputy director general of the Belarusian-German pharmaceutical enterprise Belpharm)

Committee on International Affairs and Relations with CIS

Chairman - Anatol Malafejeu (chairman of the first House of Representatives)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Siarhej Kastsian (chairman of the Committee on International Affairs and Relations with CIS of the first House of Representatives, member of the Communist Party of Belarus)

3. Aliaksandr Shpileuski (deputy chairman of the Committee in the first House of Representatives)

4. Anatol Krasutski, (chairman of the Committee on State System Building, Local Self-Government and Rules of Procedure of the first House of Representatives)

Committee members:

5. Yury Astapchanka (director general of the Belarusian Material Resources Concern (Belresursy), member of the first House of Representatives)

6. Viktar Kuchynski (presidential aide, director of the Belarusian leader's Humanitarian Aid Department, member of the first House of Representatives)

7. Andrej Loseu (director of trade organization Hrodnaapthandal, member of the Communist Party of Belarus)

8. Natallia Masherava (deputy head of the main department of information and analytical work and public relations of the office of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarusian-Russian union)

9. Zinaida Piankova (chairperson of the Mahiliou city Soviet (Council))

10. Maryja Vinakurava (director of Babrujsk factory of large panel construction, member of the first House of Representatives)

Committee on Chernobyl Problems, Environment and the Use of Natural Resources

Chairman - Valiantsin Kruchkou (chairman of the Commission in the first House of Representatives, member the Agrarian Party)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Uladzimir Dzerviankou (head of the Tsantralny district administration in Homel)

3. Vital Kulik (director of a state-run bread-baking plant in Rechitsa, member of the permanent Commission on Agrarian Issues of the first House of Representatives, member of the Agrarian Party)

4. Maryja Khudaja (deputy chairperson of the Commission in the first House of Representatives)

Committee members:

5. Uladzimir Semianiuk (director of state forestry enterprise)

6. Eduard Siniak (head physician of Barysau district medical association (Minsk region)

7. Valery Lahvin (chief editor of the regional newspaper Homelskaja prauda)

Committee on Budget, Finance and Tax Policy

Chairman - Siarhej Kisialiou (head of a tax inspection of Frunzenski district of Minsk)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Mikalaj Kutsko (chairman of the permanent Commission on Agrarian Issues of the first House of Representatives, member of the Agrarian Party)

3. Viktar Marakhin (deputy head of the representative office of the Ministry of Defense)

4. Siarhej Skrabets (director general of the private trade center BelBabajeuskaje)

Committee members:

5. Vadzim Aleksandrovich (director general of the Itera-Bel company, deputy chairman of the permanent Commission on Labor, Social Issues, Healthcare, Physical Culture and Sport of the first House of Representatives, chairman of the Belarusian Social Sports Party)

6. Ihar Baslyk (director of a poultry farm)

Committee on Monetary Policy and Banking

Chairman - Aliaksej Vahanau (director general of the car dealership Lada OMC, member of the Liberal Democratic Party)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Mikalaj Barodka (surgeon of the Homel territorial medical association)

3. Ivan Mychko (deputy chairman of Maskouski district executive committee of Minsk)

Committee members:

4. Piotr Kaluhin (director general of the Belaruskali potash fertilizers enterprise, member of the first House of Representatives)

5. Leanid Hlukhouski (deputy minister of the internal affairs, head of the Investigations Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, member of the permanent Commission on Legislation of the first House of Representatives)

6. Viktar Parfianovich (head physician of Lahojsk territorial medical association (Minsk region)

Committee on Labor, Social Protection, Veterans and Disabled

Chairman - Siarhej Kamianetski (chairman of the Hrodna regional committee of the Belarusian Union of Afghan War Veterans)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Henadz Dyleuski (director general of joint stock company Vladyko)

3. Stanislau Havarushkin (head of the health department of a regional executive committee, chairman of the permanent Commission on Labor, Social Issues, Healthcare, Physical Culture and Sport of the first House of Representatives)

Committee members:

4. Mikalaj Dunich (chairman of Hrodna local district executive committee, member of the first House of Representatives)

5. Raman Ananjeu (president of the private joint stock oil and gas company Belneftegaz, deputy chairman of the permanent Commission on Labor, Social Issues, Healthcare, Physical Culture and Sports of the first House of Representatives)

6. Anatol Niatylkin (chairman of the Belarusian Association of Eye Invalids, chairman of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice)

Committee on Healthcare, Physical Culture, Family and Youth Affairs

Chairman - Valery Lektarau (head of the health department of Vitsebsk Regional Executive Committee, member of the first House of Representatives)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Mikalaj Dubovik (deputy chairman of the permanent Committee on Labor, Social Issues, Healthcare, Physical Culture and Sport of the first House of Representatives)

3. Uladzimir Parfianovich (president of the Belarusian Agency of Financial Investments, Ltd.)

4. Uladzimir Isajeu (head physician of Polatsk territorial medical association (Vitsebsk)

Committee members:

5. Mikhail Zhukevich (first secretary of the Homel regional committee of the pro-presidential Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union, deputy chairman of the regional committee of the Belarusian union of Afghan War Veterans)

6. Natallia Tkachuk (head physician of a district hospital Vitsebsk region)

7. Robert Chasnojts (head of the health department of the Hrodna regional executive committee)

Committee on Housing Policy, Construction, Trade and Privatization

Chairman - Vasil Khrol (deputy chairman of the permanent Committee on Economic Issues of the first House of Representatives, president of Belarusian Real Estate Association)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Hanna Burava (director of a trade center Khvalia and director of enterprise Radiovolna (Hrodna)

3. Tatsiana Holubeva (deputy minister of architecture and construction)

4. Kiryl Khalopik (deputy director general of the Real Estate and Estimate Institute)

Committee members:

5. Ivan Melnikau (head of a shop of the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant)

6. Leu Navazhylau (vice president of an ice hockey club, former head of the Polimir enterprise)

7. Uladzimir Lojka (deputy director general of the automobile production association BelAZ)

Committee on Industry, Fuel and Energy Complex, Transportation, Communications and Enterprise

Chairman - Mikhail Baravy (president of the private joint stock company BelAvtogaz)

Deputy chairmen:

2. Mikalaj Skutau (director general of the Belarusian-Russian-Ukrainian oil company BelRosUkrneft)

3. Siarhej Zabalotsets (deputy head of the logistics department of Minsk Automobile Plant,)

4. Mikhail Paplauski (director of state-run factory Diaproyektor)

Commission members :

5. Viachaslau Kebich (president of the Belarusian Industrial and Financial Union, prime minister from 1990 to 1994, member of the first House of Representatives)

6. Uladzimir Zhvikau (head of Orsha locomotive depot (Vitsebsk region)