Political history of Lithuania
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Politics of Lithuania takes place in a framework of a
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semi-presidential
representative democratic Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...
republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
, whereby the
President of Lithuania The President of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019. Powers The president has somewhat more executive authority tha ...
is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the President and the Government, which is headed by the Prime Minister. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and the unicameral Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament). Judicial power is vested in judges appointed by the President of Lithuania and is independent of executive and legislature power. The judiciary consists of the Constitutional Court, the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, and the
Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
as well as the separate administrative courts. The
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija) defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on 25 October 1992. History Statutes of Lithua ...
established these powers upon its approval on 25 October 1992. Being a multi-party system, the government of Lithuania is not dominated by any single political party, rather it consists of numerous parties that must work with each other to form
coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
s.


History

Since Lithuania restored independence on 11 March 1990, it has kept democratic traditions. Drawing from the interwar experiences, politicians made many different proposals that ranged from strong parliamentarism to a
presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...
republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
with checks and balances similar to the United States. Through compromise, a
semi-presidential system A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
was settled. In a referendum on 25 October 1992, the first general vote of the people since their declared independence, 56.75% of the total number of voters supported the new constitution. All major political parties declared their support for Lithuania's membership in NATO and the European Union (EU). Lithuania joined NATO on 29 March 2004. Lithuania joined the EU on 1 May 2004 and
Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
on 21 December 2007 and Eurozone on 1 January 2015. Since 1991, Lithuanian voters have shifted from right to left and back again, swinging between the Conservatives, led by Vytautas Landsbergis, and the (formerly
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
) Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, led by president
Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was the first President (fourth overall) of a newly re-independent post-Soviet Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He also served as head of the Communist Party of Li ...
. During this period, the prime minister was Gediminas Vagnorius. Valdas Adamkus was the president since 1998. His proposed prime minister was Rolandas Paksas, whose government got off to a rocky start and collapsed within seven months. The alternation between left and right was broken in the October 2000 elections when the Liberal Union and New Union parties won the most votes and were able to form a centrist ruling coalition with minor partners. President Adamkus played a key role in bringing the new centrist parties together. Artūras Paulauskas, the leader of the centre-left New Union (also known as the social-liberal party), became the Chairman of the Seimas. In July 2001, the centre-left New Union party forged an alliance with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and formed a new cabinet under former president Algirdas Brazauskas. On 11 April 2006, Artūras Paulauskas was removed from his position and
Viktoras Muntianas Viktoras Muntianas (born 11 November 1951 in Marijampolė, Lithuanian SSR) is a Lithuanian politician of Moldovan descent and former Speaker of the Seimas. In 1968 he graduated from the high school in Marijampolė. In 1973 he enrolled in the Vi ...
was elected Chairman of the Seimas. The cabinet of Algirdas Brazauskas resigned on 31 May 2006, as President Valdas Adamkus expressed no confidence in two of the Ministers, formerly party colleagues of Brazauskas, over ethical principles. Brazauskas decided not to remain in office as acting Prime Minister, and announced that he was finally retiring from politics. Even so, he led the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania for one more year, until 19 May 2007, when he passed the reins to Gediminas Kirkilas. On 27 November 2008, Andrius Kubilius of conservative Homeland Union was appointed as a Prime Minister. In December 2012 Andrius Kubilius was succeeded by
Algirdas Butkevičius Algirdas Butkevičius (born 19 November 1958) is a Lithuanian politician and was Prime Minister of Lithuania, serving between 2012 and 2016. He also served as the Minister of Finance from 2004 to 2005 and the Minister of Transport and Communicati ...
after his Social Democratic Party became the biggest party in parliamentary elections. In 2016, The Peasant and Green's Union (LGPU) won parliamentary elections. It secured 54 seats in the 141-member parliament ( Seimas), making a previously small centrist agrarian party the biggest in parliament. The conservative Homeland Union won 30 seats. The ruling Social Democrats, led by Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevciu, lost heavily and secured just 17 seats. On 22 November 2016, Saulius Skvernelis of the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union, became new Prime Minister. In October 2020, conservative opposition
Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats ( lt, Tėvynės sąjunga Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai, TS–LKD), also known colloquially simply as the Conservatives, is a centre-right political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 mem ...
(TS-LKD) won parliamentary elections with 50 seats. Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis’ Union of Farmers and Greens came a distant second with just 32 seats. In November 2020, Ingrida Šimonytė became new prime minister, after forming a centre-right coalition government of her TS-LKD and two liberal parties.


Government

Government in Lithuania is made up of three branches originally envisioned by
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Baron de Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the princip ...
: executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is separate and is set up to do checks and balances on each other branch.


Executive branch

The executive branch of the Lithuanian government consists of a President, a Prime Minister, and the President's Council of Ministers. It is in charge of running the government.


President

The
President of Lithuania The President of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019. Powers The president has somewhat more executive authority tha ...
is the head of state of the country, elected directly for a five-year term and can serve maximum of two terms consecutively. Presidential elections take place in a modified version of the two-round system. If half of voters participate, a candidate must win a majority of the total valid vote in order to win election in the first round. If fewer than half of voters participate, a candidate can win outright with a plurality and at least one third of the total vote. If the first round does not produce a president, a runoff is held between the top two finishers in the first round, with a plurality sufficient to win. The President, with the approval of the Seimas, is first responsible of appointing the Prime Minister. Upon the Prime Minister's nomination, the President also appoints, under the recommendation of the Prime Minister, the
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
(13
ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...
), as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts. The President also serves as the commander-in-chief, oversees foreign and security policy, addresses political problems of foreign and domestic affairs, proclaims states of emergency, considers the laws adopted by the Seimas, and performs other duties specified in the Constitution.Lithuanian Home Page
Lithuanian presidents have somewhat greater power than their counterparts in Estonia and Latvia, but have more influence in foreign policy than domestic policy. Former President Rolandas Paksas, who had defeated Adamkus in
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, was
impeached Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...
in April 2004 for leaking classified information. Dalia Grybauskaitė, the first female president, served as the President of Lithuania since July 2009 until 2019, winning a reelection bid in 2014. Grybauskaitė succeeded Valdas Adamkus who had served a total of two non-consecutive terms. In 2019, Gitanas Nauseda won Lithuania's presidential runoff election after his opponent Ingrida Šimonytė conceded.


Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of government of the country, appointed by the President and approved by the Seimas. The Prime Minister, within 15 days of being appointed, is responsible for choosing Ministers for the President to approve to each of the 13 Ministries. In general, the Prime Minister is in charge of the affairs of the country, maintains homeland security, carries out laws and resolutions of the Seimas and decrees of the President, maintains diplomatic relations with foreign countries and international organizations, and performs other duties specified in the Constitution. In practice, the Prime Minister is mostly responsible for domestic policy, while the President mostly handles foreign policy.


Council of Ministers

Similar to the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
of other nations, the Council of Ministers consists of 13 Ministers chosen by the Prime Minister and appointed by the President. Each Minister is responsible for his or her own Ministry of the Lithuanian government and must give reports on his or her Ministry when directed to.Lithuania in the European Union – Coordination of European Union Affairs in Lithuania
/ref> When the Prime Minister resigns or dies, the position is to be filled as soon as possible and the new leader will appoint a new Government.


Current office holders

, President , Gitanas Nausėda , Independent , 12 July 2019 , - , Prime Minister , Ingrida Šimonytė , Independent (endorsed by
Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats ( lt, Tėvynės sąjunga Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai, TS–LKD), also known colloquially simply as the Conservatives, is a centre-right political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 mem ...
) , 11 December 2020


Legislative branch

The parliament ( Seimas) has 141 members that are elected for a 4-year term. About half of the members are elected in single-member districts (71), and the other half (70) are elected in the nationwide vote using proportional representation by party lists. A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas.


Political parties and elections


2019 presidential election


2020 parliamentary election


2019 European election


Judicial branch

The judges of the
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (in lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas) is the constitutional court of the Republic of Lithuania, established by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania of 1992. It began the ...
(''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas'') for a single nine-year term are appointed by the Seimas from the candidates presented by the President (three judges), Chairman of Seimas (three judges) and the chairman of the Supreme Court (three judges).


Administrative divisions

Lithuania has a three-tier administrative division: the country is divided into 10 counties (Lithuanian: singular – ''apskritis'', plural – ''apskritys'') that are further subdivided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular – ''savivaldybė'', plural – ''savivaldybės'') which consist of over 500 elderships (Lithuanian: singular – ''seniūnija'', plural – ''seniūnijos''). The county governors (Lithuanian: ''apskrities viršininkas'') institution and county administrations have been dissolved in 2010.(Republic of Lithuania Annul Law on County Governing)
Seimas law database, 7 July 2009, Law no. XI-318.
Municipalities are the most important administrative unit. Some municipalities are historically called "district municipalities", and thus are often shortened to "district"; others are called "city municipalities", sometimes shortened to "city". Each municipality has its own elected government. In the past, the election of municipality councils occurred once every three years, but it now takes place every four years. The council appoints elders to govern the elderships. Mayors are elected directly since 2015, being appointed by the council before that. Justinas Vanagas
Seimo Seimas įteisino tiesioginius merų rinkimus
, Delfi.lt, 26 June 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2015.


International organization participation


Notes


References


External links


Erik Herron's Guide to Politics of East Central Europe and Eurasia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Politics of Lithuania