Politics of Lithuania
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Politics of Lithuania takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
Executive power is exercised by the government, which is headed by the Prime Minister. Federal 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 a the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal. The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania established these powers upon its approval on October 25, 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 governments.
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[edit] History
Since Lithuania declared independence on March 11, 1990, it kept strong democratic traditions. Drawing from the interwar experiences, politicians made many different proposals that ranged from strong parliamentarism to a democracy similar to the United States. Through compromise, a semi-presidential system was settled[1]. In a referendum on October 25, 1992—the first general vote of the people since their declared independence—56.75% of the total number of voters supported the new constitution[2].
All major parties have declared their support for Lithuania's membership in NATO and the European Union (EU). Lithuania joined NATO on March 29, 2004 and joined the EU on May 1, 2004.
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) Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, led by former president Algirdas Brazauskas. This pattern 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. The leader of the center-left New Union (also known as the Social Liberal party), Artūras Paulauskas, became the Chairman of the Seimas. On April 11, 2006, Artūras Paulauskas was removed from the position of the Chairman of the Seimas [3]. Viktoras Muntianas was elected Chairman of the Seimas.
The government of Rolandas Paksas got off to a rocky start and collapsed within seven months. In July 2001, the center-left New Union party forged an alliance with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and formed a new cabinet under former president Algirdas Brazauskas.
The cabinet of Algirdas Brazauskas resigned on 31 May 2006.
[edit] Federal government
Federal government in Lithuania is made up of three branches originally envisioned by enlightenment philosopher Baron de Montesquieu: executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is separate and is set up to do checks and balances on each other branch.
[edit] Executive branch
The executive branch of the Lithuanian government consists of a President, a Prime Minister, and the President's Counsil of Ministers. It is in charge of running the government.
[edit] President
The President of Lithuania is the head of state of the country, elected directly for a five-year term. The president can serve maximum of two terms consecutively. The President also serves as the commander-in-chief and oversees foreign and security policy. 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 (13 ministries), as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts. The President of the Republic addresses political problems of foreign and domestic affairs, proclaims state of emergency, considers the laws adopted by the Seimas, and performs other duties specified in the Constitution[3].
President Valdas Adamkus has been the head-of-state since July 12, 2004, who followed interim President Artūras Paulauskas after former President Rolandas Paksas was impeached in April 2004 for leaking classified information. Adamkus had previously served a term as Lithuanian President from 1998 to 2003, but lost to Paksas who also ran for President.
[edit] 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[3].
[edit] Counsil of Ministers
Similar to the cabinet of other nations, the Counsil 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[4]. The different Lithuanian Ministries are litsed below. 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.
[edit] Current office holders
| Main office holders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
| President | Valdas Adamkus | none | July 12, 2004 |
| Prime Minister | Gediminas Kirkilas | LSDP | July 6, 2006 |
| Min. of Agriculture | Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė | VNDS | July 12, 2006 |
| Min. of Culture | Jonas Jučas | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of Economy | Vytas Navickas | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of Education & Science | Roma Žakaitienė | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of Environment | Arūnas Kundrotas | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of Finance | Zigmantas Balčytis | LSDP | July 12, 2006 |
| Min. of Foreign Affairs | Petras Vaitiekūnas | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of Health | Rimvydas Turčinskas | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of the Interior | Raimondas Šukys | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of Justice | Petras Baguška | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of National Defense | Juozas Olekas | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of Social Security & Labour | Vilija Blinkevičiūtė | July 12, 2006 | |
| Min. of Transport & Communications | Algirdas Butkevičius | July 12, 2006 | |
[edit] 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.
[edit] Political parties and elections
- The following election results include names of political parties. See for additional information about parties the List of political parties in Lithuania. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Lithuania.
| Candidates | Nominating party | 1st round | 2nd round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| Valdas Adamkus | Independent | 387,837 | 30.7 | 723,891 | 52.6 |
| Kazimiera Prunskienė | Peasants and New Democratic Party Union | 264,681 | 21.4 | 651,024 | 47.4 |
| Petras Auštrevičius | Independent | 240,413 | 19.3 | - | |
| Vilija Blinkevičiūtė | New Union Social Liberals | 204,819 | 16.6 | - | |
| Česlovas Juršėnas | Social Democratic Party of Lithuania | 147,610 | 11.9 | - | |
| Source: Central Electoral Committee | 1,245,360 | 100% | 1,374,915 | 100% | |
| # | Coalition | Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labour Party (Darbo partija) | 28.4 | 39 | ||
| 2 | Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas and Artūras Paulauskas "Working for Lithuania" (Algirdo Brazausko ir Artūro Paulausko koalicija "Už darbą Lietuvai") |
Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija) | 20.7 | 20 | |
| New Union Social Liberals (Naujoji sąjunga (socialliberalai)) | 11 | ||||
| 3 | Homeland Union (Lithuanian Conservatives) (Tėvynės sąjunga/Lietuvos konservatoriai) | 14.6 | 25 | ||
| 4 | Coalition of Rolandas Paksas "For the Order and Justice" (Rolando Pakso koalicija "Už tvarką ir teisingumą") |
Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalų demokratų partija) | 11.4 | 11 | |
| Lithuanian People's Union "For the Fair Lithuania" (Lietuvos liaudies sąjunga "Už teisingą Lietuvą") | |||||
| 5 | Liberal and Centre Union (Liberalų ir centro sąjunga) | 9.1 | 18 | ||
| 6 | Peasants and New Democratic Party Union (Valstiečių ir Naujosios demokratijos partijų sąjungos) |
Lithuanian Peasants Party (Lietuvos valstiečių partija) | 6.6 | 10 | |
| New Democratic Party (Naujosios demokratijos partija) | |||||
| 7 | Election Action of Lithuania's Poles (Lietuvos lenkų rinkimų akcija) | 3.8 | 2 | ||
| 8 | Christian Conservative Social Union (Krikščionių konservatorių socialinė sąjunga) | 2.0 | - | ||
| 9 | Lithuanian Christian Democrats (Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai) | 1.4 | - | ||
| 10 | Non-partisans | . | 6 | ||
| Source: Lithuanian Election Committee | Total (turnout 46.8 %) | 141 | |||
Lithuania has 13 seats in the parliament of the European Union.
elections: last held 13 June 2004
election results: seats by party - LDP 5, LSDP 2, TS-LK 2, LLCS 2, VNDS 1, LLDP 1
- Ona Juknevičienė (Lithuanian Labour Party)
- Arūnas Degutis (Lithuanian Labour Party)
- Danutė Budreikaitė (Lithuanian Labour Party)
- Jolanta Dičkutė (Lithuanian Labour Party)
- Aidas Gedvilas (Lithuanian Labour Party)
- Justas Vincas Paleckis (Lithuanian Social Democratic Party)
- Aloyzas Sakalas (Lithuanian Social Democratic Party)
- Vytautas Landsbergis (Homeland Union/Conservative Party)
- Laima Andrikienė (Homeland Union/Conservative Party)
- Eugenijus Gentvilas (Liberal and Center Union)
- Margarita Starkevičiūtė (Liberal and Center Union)
- Gintaras Didžiokas (Union of Farmer's and New Democracy Parties)
- Rolandas Pavilionis (Liberal Democratic Party) (deceased on 10 May, 2006)
[edit] Judicial branch
The judges of the Constitutional Court (Konstitucinis Teismas) for nine year term are appointed by President (three judges), Chairman of Seimas (three judges) and the chairman of the Supreme Court (three judges).
[edit] Administrative divisions
Since 1994, with modifications in 2000, Lithuania is subdivided into 10 counties (Lithuanian: plural - apskritys, singular - apskritis), each named after their principal city (see: Counties of Lithuania). Counties are then subdivided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: plural - savivaldybės, singular - savivaldybė). Municipalities are further subdivided into over 500 elderships (Lithuanian: plural - seniūnijos, singular - seniūnija).
Counties are ruled by apskrities viršininkas (officially translated as "governor") who is appointed by the central government in Vilnius. Their primary duty is to ensure that the municipalities obey the laws and constitution of Lithuania. They do not have great powers vested in them. Municipality governments are elected in democratic elections of municipality councils held every 4 years. Municipality mayors are elected by the municipality councils. Also, municipality councils appoint elders to be in charge of an eldership.
[edit] International organization participation
[edit] References
- ^ Lina Kulikauskienė, Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija (Constitution of Lithuania), Native History, CD, 2002. ISBN 9986-9216-7-8
- ^ Nuo 1991 m. iki šiol paskelbtų referendumų rezultatai (Results from Refrenda 1991-Present), Microsoft Word Document, Seimas. Accessed June 4, 2006.
- ^ a b [1]
- ^ [2]
