If Lukashenka dies, who will take power? Here's what law says

Nobody has an answer to this question, but the exact order of the "succession to the throne" is laid down in the legislation. Here's how it should be, at least according to the law. 

So, who takes power?

If we imagine that Belarus is a state governed by the rule of law, then all the basic procedures related to the power structure and the country are written in the Constitution.

In the current edition of the Constitution (the one that was changed after the 2022 referendum), Article 88 answers the question "What will happen if Lukashenka dies?".

"In case of a vacancy in the office of the President or his inability to perform his duties on the grounds stipulated by the Constitution, his powers shall be transferred to the Chairman of the Council of the Republic until the newly elected President is sworn in," says the Basic Law.

If the President dies due to an assassination attempt, everything is a little more complicated: the most important decisions are made by the Council of the Republic, which is chaired by the same President of the Council of the Republic. Then a state of emergency or martial law will have to be declared. However, we will concentrate on the "peaceful" scenario.

In the previous edition of the constitution, the powers of the president were transferred to the prime minister. In the 1994 constitution it is the speaker of the lower house of parliament who gets the power. 

And the prize goes to... the plumbers

Who's the head of the Council of the Republic now? Natallya Kachanava, an engineer by training, who began her work at "vodokanal" in Polatsk and later held the positions of deputy prime minister and head of Lukashenka's administration.

In such a situation, the post of president is considered vacant. And Article 81 of the Constitution states:

"If the office of president is vacant, elections shall be held not earlier than 30 days and not later than 70 days from the date of the vacancy."

This means that, in theory, new elections would have to be held within two months. They would have to be called by the House of Representatives and conducted by the Central Election Commission.

But all of this, again, is just as it should be in theory, according to the constitution.