Politics of Lithuania takes place in a framework of a

unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigr ...

semi-presidential A semi-presidential republic, or dual executive 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 parliamen ...

representative democratic Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies funct ...

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, whereby the

president of Lithuania The president of the Republic of Lithuania () is the head of state of the Republic of Lithuania. The president directs and appoints the executive branch of the Government of Lithuania, represents the nation internationally and is the commande ...

is the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and the

prime minister of Lithuania The prime minister of Lithuania (, , colloquially also referred to as the premier ) is the head of government of Lithuania. The prime minister is appointed by the President of Lithuania, president with the assent of the Lithuanian parliament, th ...

is the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

, and of a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

Executive power The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

is exercised by the

president 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and the Government, which is headed by the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Legislative power A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...

is vested in both the Government and the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

(Lithuanian

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Judicial power The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

is vested in judges appointed by the president of Lithuania and is independent of executive and legislature power. The

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

consists of the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, and the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

as well as the separate

administrative court An administrative court is a type of specialized court on administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are usually co ...

s. The

Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

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 A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, rather it consists of numerous parties that must work with each other to form

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

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 A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legisl ...

to a

presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

with

checks and balances The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually law-making, adjudication, and execution) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinguishabl ...

similar to the United States. Through compromise, a

semi-presidential system A semi-presidential republic, or dual executive 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 parliament ...

was settled. In a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

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 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU). Lithuania joined NATO on 29 March 2004. Lithuania joined the EU on 1 May 2004 and

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

on 21 December 2007 and

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...

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 Vytautas Landsbergis (; born 18 October 1932) is a Lithuanian politician and former Member of the European Parliament. He was the first Speaker of Reconstituent Seimas of Lithuania after its independence declaration from the Soviet Union. He ...

, and the (formerly

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

)

Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania The Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (, LDDP) was a political party in Lithuania. It was the successor of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Lithuania. The youth organization of LDDP was called Lithuanian Labourist Youth Union (). History ...

, led by president

Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was a Lithuanian politician who served as the fourth president of Lithuania from 1993 to 1998. He also served as the prime minister of Lithuania from 2001 to 2006. Brazauskas was the first democr ...

. During this period, the prime minister was

Gediminas Vagnorius Gediminas Vagnorius (born 10 June 1957) is a Lithuanian politician and signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania, heading the government between 1991 and 1992, and again ...

Valdas Adamkus Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; November 3, 1926) is a Lithuanian politician, diplomat and civil engineer who served as the fifth and seventh president of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009. Adamku ...

was the president since 1998. His proposed prime minister was

Rolandas Paksas Rolandas Paksas (; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the sixth President of Lithuania from 2003 until his impeachment in April 2004. He previously served two terms as the Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again ...

, 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 Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

ruling coalition with minor partners. President Adamkus played a key role in bringing the new centrist parties together.

Artūras Paulauskas Artūras Paulauskas (born 23 August 1953 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian politician. He was the Speaker of Seimas, the parliament of Lithuania, from 2000 to 2006, and he served as Acting President of Lithuania from 6 April 2004 to 12 July 2004. Ea ...

, 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 Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

New Union party forged an alliance with the

Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organisation in 1896, it is the oldest extant party in Lithuania. During the time of the ...

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) 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 Vilnius Civil Engineering Institute, ...

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 Gediminas Kirkilas (; 30 August 1951 – 20 April 2024) was a Lithuanian politician who was Prime Minister of Lithuania from 2006 to 2008. Life and career Kirkilas was born in Vilnius in 1951. After returning from mandatory military service, ...

. On 27 November 2008,

Andrius Kubilius Andrius Kubilius (; born 8 December 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who is currently serving as the European Commissioner for Defence Industry and Space in the Second von der Leyen Commission. He previously served as a Member of the European ...

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 Communica ...

after his Social Democratic Party became the biggest party in parliamentary

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

. In 2016, The Peasant and Green's Union (LGPU) won parliamentary

. It secured 54 seats in the 141-member parliament (

), making a previously small centrist agrarian party the biggest in parliament. The conservative

Homeland Union The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (, TS–LKD), also colloquially known as the Conservatives (), is a centre-right political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 members and 28 of 141 seats in the Seimas. Its current leader ...

won 30 seats. The ruling

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

, led by Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevciu, lost heavily and secured just 17 seats. On 22 November 2016,

Saulius Skvernelis Saulius Skvernelis (born 23 July 1970) is a Lithuanian politician who served as prime minister of Lithuania between 2016 and 2020. He had previously served as police commissioner, and was Minister of the Interior from 2014 to 2016. Though he was ...

of the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union, became new prime minister. In October 2020, conservative opposition Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) won parliamentary

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 Ingrida Šimonytė (; born 15 November 1974) is a Lithuanian politician, public servant and economist who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Lithuania, prime minister of Lithuania from 2020 to 2024. She has been a Member of the Seimas for the A ...

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

enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Baron de Montesquieu:

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

, and

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. Each branch is separate and is set up to do

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

is the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

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 The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

. 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

, is first responsible of appointing the

. Upon the prime minister's nomination, the president also appoints, under the recommendation of the prime minister, the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

(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

, who had defeated Adamkus in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, was

impeached Impeachment is a 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 Eu ...

in April 2004 for leaking classified information.

Dalia Grybauskaitė Dalia Grybauskaitė (; born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth president of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. She is the first and so far only woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Li ...

, the first female president, served as the president of Lithuania since July 2009 until 2019, winning a reelection bid in 2014. Grybauskaitė succeeded

who had served a total of two non-consecutive terms. In 2019, Gitanas Nauseda won Lithuania's presidential runoff

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

after his opponent

conceded.

Prime minister

The

is the

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 * Filin ...

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 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Gitanas Nausėda Gitanas Nausėda (; ; born 19 May 1964) is a Lithuanian politician, economist, and banker who is serving as the ninth and incumbent president of Lithuania since 2019. Born in Klaipėda, Nausėda graduated from Vilnius University with an economic ...

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, 12 July 2019 , - ,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Gintautas Paluckas Gintautas Paluckas (; born 19 August 1979) is a Lithuanian politician who has served as the 18th prime minister of Lithuania since December 2024. He was previously Deputy Mayor of Vilnius from 2015 to 2019, led the Lithuanian Social Democratic P ...

, 12 December 2024

Legislative branch

The parliament (

) has 141 members that are elected for a 4-year term. About half of the members are elected in

single-member districts A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

(71), and the other half (70) are elected in the nationwide vote using

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

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 (''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas'') for a single nine-year term are appointed by the

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)

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