Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania

• Chairman of the Sejm (since 2016 ) - Viktoras Prantzketis
• First Deputy Chairman (since 2016 ) - Rima Baschene
• Deputy Chairman (since 2016 ) - Irena Diagutene
• Deputy Chairman (since 2016 ) - Gediminas Kirkilas
• Deputy Chairman (since 2016 ) - Arvydas Nekroshus

• Seimas opposition leader (since 2016 ) -

It consists of one house, including 141 deputies of the Seimas ^[1] , elected for a term of four years on the basis of universal, equal, direct suffrage by secret ballot. A member of the Seimas may be appointed only by the Prime Minister or the Minister (Part 2 of Art. 60).

According to Chapter V of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who is permanently resident in Lithuania and is not bound by an oath or obligation with a foreign state and who has reached at least 25 years of age on election day may be elected a deputy of the Seimas. A person who has not served a sentence according to a sentence appointed by a court, as well as a person recognized by a court as legally incompetent, shall not be elected a deputy of the Seimas. An elected deputy of the Seimas gains all the rights of a representative of the people after taking the oath of allegiance to the Republic of Lithuania in the Seimas. The Diet annually gathers for two regular - spring and autumn - sessions.

• The spring session begins on March 10 and ends on June 30.
• The autumn session begins on September 10 and is downloaded December 23.
• An extraordinary session may be convened by the President of the Seimas on the proposal of at least a third of the total number of members of the Parliament or by the President in cases provided for by the Constitution.

Meetings of the Seimas shall be chaired by the Chairman of the Seimas or his deputy.

The first Seimas sitting after the elections is opened by the oldest member of the Seimas. The structure and working procedure of the Seimas are established by the Statute of the Seimas, which has the force of law.

• discusses and adopts amendments to the Constitution;
• issues laws (laws adopted by the Seimas enter into force after they are signed and officially promulgated by the President of the Republic of Lithuania );
• adopts decisions on referenda;
• Calls for the election of the President of the Republic of Lithuania ;
• establishes state institutions prescribed by law, as well as appoints and dismisses their leaders;
• approves or does not approve the candidacy of the Prime Minister represented by the President of the Republic;
• considers the Government program submitted by the Prime Minister and decides on its approval;
• on the proposal of the Government, forms or abolishes ministries of the Republic of Lithuania;
• exercises control over the activities of the Government, may express no confidence in the Prime Minister or the Minister;
• appoints judges of the Constitutional Court, judges of the Supreme Court, as well as chairmen of these courts;
• appoints and dismisses the state controller, chairman of the board of the Bank of Lithuania ;
• appoints elections of self-government councils;
• forms the Main Election Commission and makes changes to its composition;
• approves the state budget and exercises control over its implementation;
• sets state taxes and other obligatory payments;
• ratifies and denounces international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania, considers other issues of foreign policy;
• establishes the administrative division of the Republic ;
• establishes state awards of the Republic of Lithuania;
• issues acts of amnesty;
• introduces direct rule, martial law and a state of emergency, declares mobilization and decides on the use of armed forces.

On February 24, 1990, parliamentary elections were held in the Lithuanian SSR; The elected Supreme Council (141 members) proclaimed the restoration of the independent Republic of Lithuania on March 11, 1990 and was renamed the Sejm on July 7, 1992. In Lithuanian historiography, the name “Restoration Seimas” was assigned to it. The first parliamentary elections after independence took place on October 25 and November 15, 1992. The Second Diet acted in 1996-2000. In the parliament, elected in 2000, the 51st place was held by the Social Democratic Coalition (KFOR), 25th by the New Union (social liberals) , 24th by the Union of Liberals .

Diet 2004-2008

The following parliament was formed after the elections of October 10-24, 2004 :

• Labor Party ( lit. Darbo partija ) - 39 seats (27, 7%)
• Coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Algirdas Brazauskas and the New Union Party (Social Liberals) Arturas Paulauskas ( lit. A. Brazausko ir A. Paulausko koalicija “Už darbą Lietuvai” ) - 31st place (22%; 20 and 11 respectively)
• “Union of the Fatherland” (conservatives, lit. Tėvynės Sąjunga ) - 25 places (17, 7%)
• The Union of Liberals and the Center ( lit. Liberalcentristų sąjunga ) - 18 seats (12, 8%)
• The Rolandas Paksas Coalition “ For Order and Justice ” ( lit. Rolando Pakso koalicija “Už tvarką ir teisingumą” ) - 11 seats ( 7.8 %)
• Union of Peasants and the New Democracy ( lit. Valstiečių ir Naujosios demokratijos partijų sąjunga ) Kazimiera Prunskienė ) - 10 places (7, 1%)
• Lithuanian Poles rally ( lit. Lenkų rinkiminė akcija ) - 2 places
• Independent - 5 places.

On November 10, 2004, the four-party coalition of Lithuania completed negotiations on the allocation of portfolios in the future government. The current ruling coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the New Union received the post of prime minister and seven of 13 portfolios, as well as the post of chairman of the Sejm, the Labor Party (TP) and the Union of Peasants and New Democracy (SKND) - 6 portfolios. Representatives of the Social Democratic Party led the ministries of defense, communications, finance, environmental protection and education, and the New Union - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Social Security. The TP was administered by the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, Health and Culture, and the SKND was the Ministry of Agriculture.

On November 15, 2004, Arturas Paulauskas was re-elected to the post of Parliament Speaker at the first meeting of the ninth Seym.

On November 25, 2004, the Lithuanian Seimas approved the candidacy of Algirdas Brazauskas for the post of Prime Minister.

In April 2006, by a majority vote (94 “for”, 11 “against”), Paulauskas was removed from office as chairman of the Seimas due to scandalous facts of abuse in the Seimas office. The deputy chairman of the Labor Party, Viktoras Munteanas, was elected the new chairman of the parliament. The participation in the removal of Paulauskas of members of parties that, together with his party, the New Union (social liberals) are members of the four-party ruling coalition, led to the exit from the coalition of social liberals and rearrangements in the government.

Diet 2008-2012

According to the results of the elections of October 12 and 26, 2008 , approved on November ^{2 [2]} , the majority of seats were won by a coalition of conservatives and Christian democrats:

• Union of the Fatherland - Christian Democrats of Lithuania - 45 seats
• Social Democratic Party of Lithuania - 25 seats
• National Revival Party - 16
• Order and justice - 15 seats
• Lithuanian Liberal Movement - 11
• Coalition of the Labor Party and Youth - 10 seats
• The Union of Liberals and the Center - 8 mandates
• Lithuanian Poles Election Action - 3 Mandates
• Lithuanian Peasant-Peoples Union - 3 mandates
• New Union (Social Liberals) - 1 mandate
• Independent deputies - 4 mandates.

After two votes, Arunas Valinskas , leader of the National Revival Party, was elected chairman on November 17, 2008, and Irena Degutene , member of the ruling united party of conservatives Union of the Fatherland Christian Democrats, was elected on September 17, 2008 .

Diet 2016-2020

According to the results of the elections on October 9 and 23, 2016 , the majority of seats were received by farmers:

• The Union of Peasants and Greens of Lithuania - 54 mandates
• Union of the Fatherland - Christian Democrats of Lithuania - 31 seats
• SDL - 17 seats
• Lithuanian Liberal Movement - 14 seats
• Lithuanian Poles Election Action - Union of Christian Families - 8 seats
• Order and justice - 8 mandates
• independent candidates - 4 mandates
• Labor Party - 2 mandates
• Anti-corruption Coalition of N. Puteikis and K. Krivitskas (Lietuvos centro partija, Lietuvos pensininkų partija) - 1 mandate
• Green Party - 1 mandate
• Lithuanian List - 1 Mandate

Viktoras Prantzketis , deputy chairman of the Union of Peasants and Greens , was elected Chairman on November 14, 2016 . 93 deputies voted for his candidacy, 36 deputies voted for the candidacy of Eugenius Gentvilas . ^[3]

The 1990 elections were held according to the majority system with 141 small single-mandate constituencies (about 17.5 thousand voters each), which ensured success for representatives of compactly residing ethnic minorities. Thanks to this, in the Supreme Council (the “Restoration Diet”) there were 14% of deputies of non-Lithuanian nationality ( 1 Jew , 8 Poles, 10 Russians). At the same time, non-Lithuanians, with the exception of several Poles - representatives of the Union of Poles of Lithuania (subsequently since 1992 the Electoral campaign of the Union of Poles of Lithuania, since 1994 the party Electoral Action of Poles of Lithuania ), were elected to the parliament as candidates of the largest parties, primarily conservatives, the Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania and the Social Democrats. The number of representatives of ethnic minorities in the Second Diet ( 1992 - 1996 ) was influenced, on the one hand, by a change in the majority system to a mixed one, reorganization of electoral districts, on the other, by granting the right to participate in elections to both political parties and public organizations, and the establishment of a positive discriminatory a 2% barrier for organizations and parties of ethnic minorities, with 4% for other parties and organizations. As a result, 7% of representatives of national minorities turned out to be in the second Diet ( 1 Jew , 3 Russians, 6 Poles, 4 of them from the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania). Amendments to the Seimas Elections Act 1996 equalized the electoral threshold for all political organizations at 4% (since 1997, public organizations have been unable to participate in elections). In the third Diet ( 1996 - 2000 ), representatives of national minorities made up 5% ( 1 Jew , 2 Russians, 3 Poles, 2 of them from the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania). In the fourth Diet ( 2000 - 2004 ) representatives of national minorities made up 11% (8 Russians, 6 Poles, 2 of them from the Electoral Action of Lithuanian Poles); at the same time, the candidates for the Russian Union of Lithuania won 3 places thanks to their participation in the Social Democratic Coalition.

The Seimas, which was formed in 2004 from parties formed on the basis of ethnicity, included only candidates for the Electoral Action of the Poles of Lithuania (Leokadia Pochikovska, Waldemar Tomaszewski), which bears distinct features of the regional party. Belorussian Vladimir Prudnikovas, Russian Vladimir Orekhov, Victor Uspaskikh (in June 2005, refused a seat in parliament and the post of Minister of Economy), Russian Vyacheslav Shkil were elected as candidates of the Labor Party , Belarusian Vatslav Stankevich - as candidate of the Coalition A. Brazauskas and A. Paulauskas, a Jew Emanuelis Zingeris - as a candidate for the “Union of the Fatherland” (only nationality specified in the official profile of the candidate is taken into account).

Now the Diet occupies a complex of four buildings. The first building with a total area of ​​9 717.37 m² was built on the site of the stadium that existed since 1950 and was designed by architects Algimantas and Vytautas Nasvitis in 1976-1980 . It was intended for the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR .

In the same years, two administrative buildings were constructed in the neighborhood. Closer to the bank of the Neris River - a building for the Ministry of Finance (architect A. Gudaitis; now the second building of the Sejm). Next to the Republican Library (now the Lithuanian National Library named after Martinas Majvidas ) is a building for the Central Council of Trade Unions (architect C. Mazuras; now the third building of the Sejm).

With the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, additional space was needed for the permanent parliament. Three buildings were connected into one complex. In the first building there are offices of members of the Seimas and their assistants, a plenary room with an area of ​​673, 52 m², conference and meeting rooms on the second floor, the White Hall and the Mirror Hall, on the third floor - the Constitution Hall. On the ground floor there is a dining room of the Sejm. The Presidency was temporarily located in the western wing of the building from 1993 - 1997 until moving to the restored presidential palace.

In the second building with an area of ​​4,390.26 m², the Seimas Chancellery, a press conference hall, rooms for journalists, and cafes are located. In the third building with an area of ​​8 623, 94 m² there are premises for the Seimas committees, technical services, a publishing house publishing legislative and by-laws “Valstybės žinios” } (State Gazette), the Seimas restaurant.

September 10, 2007 the autumn session of the Seimas began in the new plenary room (project manager architect Algimantas Nasvitis ), attached to the existing complex of buildings of the Seimas. ^[four]

• Founding Diet of Lithuania
• Vilensky Diet
• Lithuanian Tariba
• Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR
• Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania
• List of Chairpersons of the Parliament of Lithuania

• Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
• Diet building
• Virtuali ekskursija į parlamentą (virtual tour of the Parliament) (lit.)