Seimas of the 2024–2028 legislative period to start work on 14 November

Press release, 11 November 2024 

On 14 November 2024, Thursday, at 10 a.m., the Seimas of the 2024–2028 legislative period will convene for its first sitting. The work of the Parliament will begin by a solemn ceremony in the historic Hall of the Act of 11 March.

The Statute of the Seimas lays down that the first sitting of the Seimas is opened by the oldest Member of the newly elected Seimas. This time the honour falls to Birutė Vėsaitė, 73, who will chair the sitting until the Speaker of the Seimas is elected. The youngest new Member of the Seimas Tadas Sadauskis, 28, will be assigned an important task of working in the first vote-tallying group.

Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania, and Gintaras Grušas, Archbishop Metropolitan of Vilnius, as well as Lina Petronienė, Chairperson of the Central Electoral Commission, will attend the sitting to welcome the elected Seimas.

This will be followed by the swearing-in ceremony. The oaths of Members of the Seimas will be administered by Gintaras Goda, President of the Constitutional Court.

Upon taking the oath, Members of the Seimas of the 2024–2028 legislative term will proceed with the sitting in the Plenary Chamber of the Seimas (Building 2) to elect the Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Seimas and to approve the composition of the Board of the Seimas and that of the Conference of Chairs.

Important information for media representatives

On 14 November at 10 a.m., during the solemn opening of the first sitting of the Seimas, photographers and video operators will be allowed into the balcony above the main entrance to the Hall of the Act of 11 March. Media representatives are required to arrive no later than 9.50 a.m.

Media representatives will be able to work and watch the live broadcast of the Seimas sitting in the Stained Glass Gallery (Building 1 of the Seimas).

The live broadcast of the sitting will be available on the website of the Seimas, TV channel Seimas – tiesiogiai (Seimas Live), as well as the YouTube channel (EN) and the Facebook page of the Seimas.

The work of media representatives in the balcony of the Plenary Chamber of the Seimas will proceed as usual.

How does the first session of the newly elected Seimas begin?

The Constitution stipulates that the President of the Republic of Lithuania convenes the newly elected Seimas for the first sitting.

It is on the day of the first sitting that the term of office for the new Members of the Seimas begins. The powers of the previously elected Members of the Seimas expire upon the commencement of the said sitting.

An elected Member of the Seimas acquires all of the rights of a representative of the Nation only upon taking the oath of loyalty to the Republic of Lithuania at a Seimas sitting. Members of the Seimas must take the oath at the first sitting of a newly elected Seimas; if they have a valid reason, however, they can do so later.

Members of the Seimas take the oath while standing in front of the President of the Constitutional Court, who administers the oath, and read the oath with their hand placed on the Constitution. Having read the oath, Members of the Seimas sign the nominal oath sheet. The text of the oath must not be amended or changed; only the last sentence is optional. 

Interestingly, the Seimas has preserved a century-long tradition of giving the oldest Member of the Seimas the honour of chairing the first sitting of a new term of office.

After the solemn ceremony, the first sitting of the Seimas proceeds with the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Seimas. Subsequently, parliamentary political groups are formed and the composition of the Board of the Seimas and the Conference of Chairs is approved.

At the beginning of the first session, the Seimas has to decide on the candidate for the post of the Prime Minister nominated by the President of the Republic, set up the parliamentary committees and approve their chairs and deputy chairs, consider the Government programme submitted by the Prime Minister, and draw up a work programme for the autumn session. 

Rimas Rudaitis, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 209 6132, e-mail: [email protected]