of these councils, which implement national policies on the local level and coordinate these policies with the individual needs of their particular region. The president is empowered to cancel or suspend the acts of the councils—a system that makes local governments directly subordinate to the president.Along with governmental infrastructure, party politics in the two nations run parallel as well. Belarus and Kazakhstan are careful regarding their political party structure, communist ideals have been banned in both countries, however, underlying support for old ideals ultimately broke through in both nations. The Communist Party of Belarus had a monopoly on power until 1990, when a coalition of pro-reform groups was allowed to participate in elections to the Supreme Soviet. The legislature was hardly changed, as Communist Party members won most of the seats. The party was banned in the wake of a failed coup attempt by Communist hard-liners to take over the Soviet government in August 1991. However, the ban was lifted in February 1993 and the party was restored as the Party of Communists of Belarus (PCB). The Communists won a plurality in the 1995 elections to the Supreme Soviet, followed by the Agrarian Party. Both parties support the retention of a centrally planned economy and state-run farms. The United Civic Party occupies the political middle ground. The main opposition movement since its formation in 1988 has been the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF). No members of the BPF were elected to the Supreme Soviet in 1995. More than 20 political parties were active in Belarus in 1996.Kazakhstan's preeminent party is the Party of the People's Unity of Kazakhstan (formerly the People's Unity Party), which promotes centrist policies and opposes radical nationalism. Other major parties in Kazakhstan include the Republican Party-Azat, founded in 1992 by the merger of three nationalist opposition parties. The Yedinstvo (Unity), a Russian...
