GOVERNMENT
Lithuania is a multi-party, parliamentary democracy. The president, who is elected directly for 5 years, is head of state and commander in chief overseeing foreign and security policy. The president nominates the prime minister and his cabinet and a number of other top civil servants. The Seimas, a unicameral parliament, has 141 members that are elected for a 4-year term. About half of the members are elected in single constituencies (71), and the other half (70) are elected in a nationwide vote by party lists. A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas.
For the first nine years of its post-Soviet independence, voters in Lithuania shifted from right to left and back again, swinging between the Conservatives, led by Vytautas Landsbergis (now headed by Andrius Kubilius), and the Labor (former Communist) Party, 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 Valdas Adamkus played a key role in bringing the new centrist parties together. The leader of the center-left New Union Party (also known as the Social Liberal Party), Arturas Paulauskas, became the Chairman of the Seimas, and the leader of the Liberal Union Party, Rolandas Paksas, became Prime Minister. The new coalition was fragile from the outset, as the Liberal Union was pro-business and right of center, while the New Union had a populist and leftist orientation. The government collapsed within 7 months and, in July 2001, the center-left New Union Party forged an alliance with the left-wing Social Democratic Party and formed a new cabinet under former President Algirdas Brazauskas.
The new government tightened budgetary discipline, supported market reforms, and passed the legislation required to ensure entry into the European Union. Several years of solid economic growth helped to consolidate the government's popularity, despite discontent within two of its core constituencies--unskilled urban workers and farmers--who had expected more generous funding of social and agricultural programs. The government remained firmly in control, and by mid-2004 it was the longest serving administration since the recovery of independence.
In an unexpected political development in January 2003, Rolandas Paksas defeated the incumbent Valdas Adamkus in the second round of the presidential election to become Lithuania's third President since 1992. Paksas' tenure as president was short-lived. In December 2003, an ad hoc parliamentary commission found that President Paksas' vulnerability to influence constituted a threat to national security. On April 7, 2004, the Seimas removed President Paksas from office. Valdas Adamkus won the second round of presidential elections in June 2004 and was sworn in as president on July 12.
Brazauskas remained prime minister after the 2004 parliamentary elections, but
the government collapsed in late May 2006 after the New Union and Labor parties
withdrew from the coalition. A new minority coalition government headed by Prime
Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, a Social Democrat, took office on July 18, 2006,
and retained the support of the opposition Conservative party on the major
issues until September 2007. On January 28, 2008 the Social Liberal party joined
the coalition, giving it a bare majority.
In the October 2008 parliamentary elections, the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrat Party, widely known as the Conservatives, won a plurality, winning almost twice as many seats (45) as the second-place Social Democrats (25). The National Revival Party, a new party with numerous show business and TV-journalism celebrities in its top ranks, finished third (16 seats).
The Conservatives put together a four-party coalition with the National Revival, Liberal Movement, and Liberal and Center Union parties, and Conservative leader Andrius Kubilius became prime minister--a post he previously held in 1999-2000. National Revival founder and leader Arturas Valinskas became Seimas Speaker.
Principal
Government Officials
President--Valdas Adamkus
Prime Minister--Andrius Kubilius, Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (known as Conservatives)
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Vygaudas Usackas, Independent (delegated by the Conservative Party)
Minister of Defense--Rasa Jukneviciene, Conservative Party
Minister of Interior--Raimundas Palaitis, Liberal and Center Union
Minister of Justice--Remigijus Simasius, Independent (delegated by the Liberal Movement)
Minister of Finance--Algirdas Semeta, Independent (delegated by the Conservative Party)
Minister of Transport and Communications--Eligijus Masiulis, Liberal Movement
Minister of Economy--Dainius Kreivys, Conservative Party
Minister of Agriculture--Kazimieras Starkevicius, Conservative Party
Minister of Education and Science--Gintaras Steponavicius, Liberal Movement
Minister of Health--Algis Caplikas, Liberal and Center Union
Minister of Social Security and Labor--Rimantas Dagys, Conservative Party
Minister of Culture--Remigijus Vilkaitis, National Revival Party
Minister of Environment--Gediminas Kazlauskas, Independent (delegated by the National Revival Party)
Seimas Chairman (Speaker)--Arturas Valinskas, National Revival Party
Lithuania
maintains an embassy
in the United States at 2622 - 16th Street, Washington DC, 20009,
tel: (202) 234-5860.
Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Constitution: On October 25, 1992, Lithuanians ratified a new constitution, which was officially signed on November 6 that year.
Branches: Executive--President (chief of state), popularly elected every 5 years; Prime Minister (head of government); Legislative--Seimas (141-member Parliament). Judicial--Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and Highest Administrative Court.
Administrative regions: 10 counties and 60 municipalities.
Principal political parties/coalitions (February 2008): Social Democrats--32 seats; Peasant Nationalists--13 seats, New Union--10 seats, Liberal and Center Union--10 seats, Civil Democracy Group--6 seats and the speaker; Opposition: Conservative Party--25 seats, Labor Party--23 seats, Liberal Movement Group--9 seats, Liberal Democratic Party--11 seats, independent--1 seat.
Suffrage: Universal adult (18 years of age).
General government budget (2008): $9.9 billion.
