Seimas 2020–2024

The elections to the Seimas of the legislative period of 2020–2024 were held on 11 and 25 October 2020. Following the second round of the elections to the Seimas, the vote count revealed that representatives of ten political forces and four self-nominated candidates won seats in Parliament. The parliamentary seats were distributed among the political parties as follows: Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats – 50 seats, Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union – 32 seats, Liberals Movement – 13 seats, Lithuanian Social Democratic Party – 13 seats, Freedom Party – 11 seats, Labour Party – 10 seats, Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance – 3 seats, Lithuanian Social Democratic Labour Party – 3 seats, ‘Freedom and Justice’– 1 seat, and Lithuanian Greens Party – 1 seat.

 

 

Subsequently, Aušrinė Armonaitė, Chairperson of the Freedom Party; Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Chairperson of the Liberals Movement; and Gabrielius Landsbergis, Chairman of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, issued a joint declaration on the formation of a ruling coalition.

 

“The votes in the 2020 Seimas elections have shown that our citizens have expectations for a new political culture and quality.

 

The public gave their trust to the political parties that respect democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, whereas the declining popularity of the current ruling power attests to the need for political change.

 

We are determined to pool our efforts with a view to restoring the bonds of trust within the country and among its people and to forming a ruling coalition and the Government led by Ingrida Šimonytė.

 

Lithuania will be stronger when political forces manage to reach a durable agreement on the key matters of national and public development. We are ready to represent all Lithuanian citizens rather than only those who voted for our political parties. Therefore, we will welcome other parliamentary political forces to join our agreements on the key tasks of the coalition and will consider the inclusion of their platform ideas,” the declaration reads. 

On 9 November 2020, these three parties signed the Coalition Agreement. The Agreement defines the goals the coalition partners undertake to implement during the upcoming legislative period. It also includes matters that each party to the Agreement considers important but on which the coalition failed to achieve a consensus, meaning that it will be up to the individual political party to seek support for the respective matters in the Seimas

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The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania lays down that the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania consists of 141 representatives of the Nation, who are elected for a four-year term on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot. The procedure for the election of the Members of the Seimas is established by the Law on Elections to the Seimas.

 

The Members of the Seimas are elected in 71 single-member constituencies and 1 multi-member constituency according to a mixed electoral system. In single-member constituencies, 71 Members of the Seimas are elected in two election rounds; and in the multi-member constituency, 70 Members of the Seimas are elected by proportional representation. The parties that pass the five percent threshold of all votes cast in the elections are eligible to distribute parliamentary seats. Coalitions have to pass the threshold of seven percent of all votes cast.

 

Regular elections to the Seimas are announced by the President of the Republic. They are held on the second Sunday of October, in the year of the expiration of the powers of the Members of the Seimas. Elections to the Seimas are organised and conducted by the Central Electoral Commission, constituency electoral committees, and polling district committees.

 

Any citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who is not under allegiance to a foreign state, who is at least 25 years of age on the election day, and who permanently resides in Lithuania may stand for election as a Member of the Seimas. Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who, on the election day, are 18 years of age or more have the right to vote. 

 

The mandate of Members of the Seimas begins on the day when a newly elected Seimas convenes for the first sitting. The mandate of previously elected Members of the Seimas expires at the beginning of this sitting.

 

An elected Member of the Seimas acquires all the rights of a representative of the Nation only after taking an oath of allegiance to the Republic of Lithuania at the Seimas.

 

The text of the oath is as follows:

 

I (name, surname)

swear to be faithful to the Republic of Lithuania;

to respect and observe its Constitution and laws and to protect the integrity of its territory;

to strengthen, to the best of my ability, the independence of Lithuania,

to conscientiously serve my Homeland, democracy, and the well-being of the people of Lithuania.

So help me God.

 

The last sentence of the oath may be omitted.

 

The main rights and obligations of Members of the Seimas are laid down in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Statute of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and other laws.

 

The Seimas debates, adopts and passes laws, gives or does not give its assent to the candidate proposed by the President of the Republic for the post of the Prime Minister (head of the Government), supervises the activities of the Government, approves the State Budget and supervises its execution, establishes state taxes, calls elections to municipal councils, and ratifies international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania.

 

The Seimas forms committees for consideration of draft laws and sets up standing and ad hoc commissions for resolving issues of narrower scope. The Conference of Chairs, which comprises members of the Board of the Seimas and representatives of political groups, approves the work programmes of the Seimas session and agendas of sittings and coordinates the organisation of the work of the committees and political groups of the Seimas.