The 1993 presidential election in Lithuania was held on February 14th . These were the first general presidential elections in Lithuanian history, held in accordance with the new Constitution , adopted at a referendum in October 1992 . Only two candidates, the chairman of the Sejm and acting president Algirdas Brazauskas , the leader of the Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania , and independent candidate Stasis Lozoraitis , supported by the Sajudis movement and a number of other political parties, claimed the post of head of state [1] .
 1997-1998 → | |||
| Presidential elections in Lithuania | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| February 14, 1993 | |||
| Voter turnout | 78.07% | ||
| Candidate | Algirdas Brazauskas | Stasis Lozoraitis | |
| The consignment | Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party | non-partisan | |
| Votes | 1 212 075 (60.03%) | 772 922 (38.28%) | |
| Election result | President of Lithuania elected Algirdas Brazauskas | ||
Content
Campaign
A. Brazauskas was considered the favorite of the election campaign, whose party sensationally won the parliamentary elections in October 1992 , having received more than half of the seats in the Sejm [1] [2] . After the failure of Sajudis in the parliamentary elections, his leader Vytautas Landsbergis decided to withdraw his candidacy in favor of Lithuanian diplomat Stasis Lozoraitis [1] . The leaders of the Polish minority also supported the Lithuanian ambassador to the United States. In the parliamentary elections, the Poles supported the Trudoviks, but after their crushing victory, many of them were concerned about the dominance of ex-communists [3] [4] . Lozoraitis was headed by Valdas Adamkus , an American ecologist of Lithuanian descent, who was later twice elected president [5] . In favor of Brazauskas, his rival spent most of his life in Italy and the United States , representing the Lithuanian government in exile under the Holy See and in Washington . Because of the Iron Curtain, the work of Lozoraitis was little known in Lithuania, while the leader of the Trudoviks in the country was well known since Soviet times.
The campaign lasted three weeks. Lozoraitis relied on his experience in diplomacy and knowledge of international politics , while his opponents called him a foreigner who did not understand the current situation in Lithuania and was dependent on the unpopular Sayudis [1] . In contrast, Brazauskas preferred to focus on solving economic problems, promising to ensure a smooth transition from a planned economy to a free market [4] . It is not surprising that the leader of the Trudoviks won a landslide victory, especially his gap was great in the areas where the Russian and Polish minorities lived [1] . In the Šalčininkai district , 88.9% of voters voted for Brazauskas, and 83.2% in Vilnius . Lozoraitis was able to get ahead of his rival only in Kaunas (54.7%) and Kaunas district (51.5%). The highest voter turnout was registered in Birštonas , Neringa , Palanga , Kupiškis , Rokiškis and Vilkaviski districts - more than 85% of citizens entitled to vote. Among Lithuanians living abroad, 83.1% of those who came to the polls voted for Lozoraitis, while 15.2% of foreign voters voted for Brazauskas.
February 25, 1993 the inauguration of the first president in the post-Soviet history of Lithuania took place [4] . In May of that year, just a few months after the election, Brazauskas reassigned Lozoraitis as ambassador to the United States, despite accusations of politicizing this issue [6] .
Results
| No. | Candidate | The consignment | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| one | Algirdas Brazauskas | Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party | 1 212 075 | 60.03 |
| 2 | Stasis Lozoraitis | independent | 772 922 | 38.28 |
| Invalid votes | 34 016 | 1.68 | ||
| Total | 2 019 013 | 78.07 | ||
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Vardys, Vytas Stanley; Judith B. Sedaitis. Lithuania: The Rebel Nation. Westview Series on the Post-Soviet Republics . WestviewPress, 1997. pp. 199-201. ISBN 0-8133-1839-4 .
- ↑ Popescu, Marina; Martin Hannavy. "1992 Parliamentary Elections" Archived on June 14, 2011. . Project on Political Transformation and the Electoral Process in Post-Communist Europe. University of Essex , 12/12/2002 (English)
- ↑ Lieven, Anatol. The Baltic revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the path to independence (2nd ed.) . Yale University Press, 1994. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-300-06078-2 . (eng.)
- ↑ 1 2 3 Kašauskienė, Vanda (2007). Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės. Jų kaita ir veiklos bruožai 1990–2007. Vilnius: Gairės. pp. 200-2003. ISBN 978-9955-759-07-2 . (lit.)
- ↑ Lane, Thomas. Lithuania: Stepping Westward . Routledge, 2001. p. 146. ISBN 0-415-26731-5 .
- ↑ Ashbourne, Alexandra. Lithuania: the rebirth of a nation, 1991–1994 . Lexington Books, 1999. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-7391-0027-1 .
Sources
- 1993 m. Respublikos Prezidento rinkimai (lit.)
- "Elections in Lithuania - Presidential Vote: 1993" . Baltic Voices. Center for the Study of Public Policy , University of Aberdeen . 04/12/2007