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Constituent Seimas (1920–1922)
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Members of the Constituent Seimas pose at the Monument to the Fallen for Lithuania's Freedom in the Garden of the Vytautas the Great War Museum, Kaunas, 1922, Menas Photo Studio |
Elections to the Constituent Seimas were held on 14–16 April 1920.
The first sitting convened on 15 May 1920 in the Hall of the National Theatre in Kaunas. Later the sittings were held in the building of the Seimas.
The Constituent Seimas had 112 members.
Aleksandras Stulginskis served as Speaker of the Seimas.
The Constituent Seimas introduced the principles of a western, democratic, parliamentary state, freedoms of faith, conscience and speech, gender and national equality, personal integrity, and an individual’s freedom of conscience and speech. The formation of the Council of Lithuania and the Constituent Seimas marked the end of the national revival period. The Constituent Seimas adopted the permanent Constitution and legislation on land reform, deliberated on and passed legislation regulating various areas of life. For example, it introduced the metric, measure and weight system and Central European Time. The Constituent Seimas carried out the parliamentary scrutiny of executive authorities at all the levels. The international position of Lithuania grew stronger during this period. In two and a half years, Lithuania was recognised de jure by 16 countries.
ELECTIONS TO THE CONSTITUENT SEIMAS
The law on elections to the Seimas was adopted in 1919. Following the law and the recommendation of the Cabinet of Ministers, the date of the elections to the Constituent Seimas was announced by the President of the State. The elections were held on 14–15 April 1920 and additionally on 16 April 1920. All the political parties of Lithuania, including national minority organisations and associations as well as various groups, ran for elections, with the exception of the Communist Party that boycotted the elections. The electorate could choose from 31 lists of candidates. The elections to the Constituent Seimas were organised in all six constituencies administered by Lithuanian authorities. Voting was not held in the Vilnius Region, which was controlled by occupation authorities of Poland at that time, and in the Klaipėda Region, which was administered by France. It was Lithuania’s first parliament elected by direct, democratic, universal, equal and secret suffrage. The election turnout was 90% of all the citizens with a right to vote.
COMPOSITION OF THE CONSTITUENT SEIMAS
The Constituent Seimas convened to its first sitting in the National Theatre in Kaunas, the then provisional capital, on 15 May 1920. The first sitting was chaired by Gabrielė Petkevičiatė-Bitė, the famous public figure and eldest member of the Seimas. The Constituent Seimas had 112 members. The Lithuanian Christian Democratic block, comprising the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, the Lithuanian Labour Federation, and the Lithuanian Farmers’ Union, had 59 seats. The National Peasants block, comprising the Lithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party and the Peasants Union, held 29 seats. The remaining seats were distributed as follows: 14 for the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, 6 for the Jewish Democratic Association, 3 for the Central Electoral Committee of Poles and 1 for the Committee of Germans of Lithuania. The Constituent Seimas represented all layers of society. It had 15 farmers, 7 workers, 4 craftsmen, 10 catholic priests, 1 rabbi, 13 teachers (mostly school teachers), 11 lawyers, 11 doctors and pharmacists, 7 military officers, 15 public officers and civil servants, 3 writers, 3 engineers, 3 agronomists, and 9 representatives of other professions (public activists, an organist, member of a co-operative society, etc.). Members of the Constituent Seimas were more educated than an average citizen. However, few of them had a university degree. Five women were elected, but in all eight women worked, at one time or another, at the Constituent Seimas throughout the legislative period. The Constituent Seimas was also marked by quite frequent replacements of its members. It also comprised six Signatories to the Act of 16 February 1918 on Lithuania’s Independence. Later, two members of the Constituent Seimas, namely Aleksandras Stulginskis and Kazys Grinius, were elected as Presidents of the Republic of Lithuania.
PRESIDIUM, POLITICAL GROUPS AND COMMISSIONS OF THE CONSTITUENT SEIMAS
On 18 May 1920, the Statute of the Constituent Seimas was adopted to regulate the activities of the Seimas. The Statute was developed on the basis of the amended Statute of the Council of Lithuania. The Presidium of the Seimas comprised the Speaker of the Seimas, Aleksandras Stulginskis, two Deputy Speakers (First Deputy Speaker Dr Jonas Staugaitis and Second Deputy Speaker, Father Justinas Staugaitis), two secretaries with decision-making powers (Vladas Natkevičius and Petras Radzevičius), and two secretaries with advisory powers (Bronislovas Cirtautas and Naftalis Fridmanas). Members of the Constituent Seimas also formed political groups of at least three members. The Constituent Seimas had the Christian Democrat bock and the Popular Peasants bloc, uniting various political groups. The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party Political Group, the Jewish Political Group, and the Polish Political Group acted independently. A member from the Committee of Germans of Lithuania could not form any political group. There were also two non-attached members. Initially, the decision was to form a Conference of Chairs encompassing members of every political group. It was to help the Presidium to organise parliamentary activities. Standing and ad hoc commissions played an important role in organising the work of the Constituent Seimas. They were tasked with drafting or deliberating on draft legislation to be submitted to plenary sittings. The Constituent Seimas had 12 standing commissions among other issues responsible for the Constitution, national defence, land reform, finance, education, social security, foreign affairs, self-government, trade, industry, and economy. In addition, ad hoc commissions were also established to investigate various incidents.
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Presidium of the Constituent Seimas. From left to right: Secretary Naftalis Fridmanas, First Secretary Ladas Natkevičius, First Deputy Speaker Jonas Staugaitis, Speaker of the Constituent Seimas and Acting President Aleksandras Stulginskis, and Second Deputy Speaker Justinas Staugaitis. Kaunas 1920, unknown photographer |
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MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDIUM: Aleksandras Stulginskis, Speaker of the Constituent Seimas, Acting President of the Republic, Lithuanian Farmers’ Union Political Group, Christian Democrat block (from 15 May 1920 to 13 November 1922); Dr Jonas Staugaitis, First Deputy Speaker, block of the Popular Socialist Democratic Party Political Group and the Lithuanian Peasant Union Political Group (from 17 May 1920 to 13 November 1922); Father Justinas Staugaitis, Second Deputy Speaker, Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party Political Group, Christian Democrat block (from 17 May 1920 to 13 November 1922); Ladas Natkevičius, Secretary with decision powers, block of the Popular Socialist Democratic Party Political Group and the Lithuanian Peasant Union Political Group (from 17 May 1920 to 13 November 1922); Petras Radzevičius, Secretary with decision powers, Lithuanian Labour Federation Political Group, Christian Democrat block (from 17 May 1920 to 6 October 1922); Bronislovas Cirtautas, Secretary with advisory powers, Lithuanian Social Democratic Party Political Group (from 17 May 1920 to 13 November 1922); Naftalis Fridmanas, Secretary with advisory powers, Jewish Political Group (from 17 May 1920 to 30 August 1921). |
MINOR SEIMAS
When the Constituent Seimas took over the administration of the country, it was faced with several challenges. A part of the territory with the capital Vilnius was occupied. The status of the Klaipėda Region was unclear. The Entente countries had not yet recognised the state of Lithuania and the borders with neighbouring countries had not been settled. Lithuania fought against the Polish Army. Members of the Seimas also stood up to fight for their country. On 22 October 1920, the Constituent Seimas decided to break for a recess and send its members to the front or central and local administrative institutions needing help in organising national defence. The struggle for independence against the Poles took the life of the military officer Antanas Matulaitis, Member of the Constituent Seimas. Several members were delegated to London, Paris and Rome, where they were going to help neutralise the Polish propaganda against Lithuania and to speed up Lithuania’s international recognition. The Seimas resumed its activities only on 17 January 1921. To fill the gap, the Seimas had elected a Minor Seimas comprising Aleksandras Stulginskis, Speaker of the Seimas, and six other members: Mykolas Krupavičius, Antanas Tumėnas, Mykolas Sleževičius, Vladas Lašas, Kazimieras Venclauskis, and Naftalis Fridmanas. The Minor Seimas was authorised to perform the main functions of the Constituent Seimas: pass legislation, approve loans and supervise the implementation of legislation. The Minor Seimas had 43 sittings.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CONSTITUENT SEIMAS
Until the autumn of 1922, the Constituent Seimas had a total of 257 plenary sittings, excluding 43 sittings of the Minor Seimas, and adopted around 300 legal acts: laws and amendments. The legislation tremendously affected further development of the Lithuanian state. On 15 May 1920, the Constituent Seimas unanimously adopted the document proclaiming the independence of Lithuania and establishing a democratic republic as its form of governance. The Constituent Seimas adopted the Constitution, a basic law of Lithuania, on 1 August 1922. For the first time in the history of the country, the Constitution stipulated that Lithuania was an independent democratic republic with the supreme power in the hands of the nation. On 15 February 1922, the basic law on land reform was adopted. On 9 August 1922, the law on the monetary unit was passed. It stipulated that the litas was Lithuania’s monetary unit comprising 100 cents and based on the gold standard. In order to ensure financial stability, the law on the Bank of Lithuania was adopted on 11 August 1922.
References:
Truska Liudas, Steigiamasis Seimas (1920–1922), Lietuvos Seimo istorija. XX–XXI a. pradžia, Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2009.
Kasparavičius Algimantas, Steigiamasis Seimas ir jo oratoriai, Lietuvos istorijos studijos, Nr. 12.
Steigiamojo Seimo rinkimų dienų paskelbimas (1920 01 12), Laikinosios Vyriausybės žinios, 1920 02 06, Nr. 1 (19), p. 1.
Įsakymas (dėl Ypatingųjų krašto apsaugos įstatų) (1920 03 01), Laikinosios Vyriausybės žinios, 1920 03 03, Nr. 20, p. 5.
Steigiamojo Seimo susirinkimo vietos ir laiko paskelbimas, Lietuva, 1920 05 15.
Mažojo Seimo sudarymo įstatymas, Vyriausybės žinios, 1920 10 29, Nr. 50.
Prepared by Vilma Akmenytė-Ruzgienė
