![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 141 seats in the Seimas 71 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 46.08% (![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
![]() |
---|
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 10 October 2004, with a second round on 24 October 2004 in the constituencies where no candidate won a majority in the first round of voting. All 141 seats in the Seimas were up for election; 71 in single-seat constituencies elected by majority vote and the remaining 70 in a nationwide constituency based on proportional representation.
The elections were won by the Labour Party with around 28% of the vote in the nationwide constituency and 39 seats in the Eighth Seimas, far short of the 71-seat majority. Outgoing government coalition "Working for Lithuania", consisting of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and New Union (Social Liberals), won a total of 31 seats.
Despite finishing behind Labour, the Social Democrats led a coalition government with New Union, Labour and the Peasants and New Democratic Party Union. Algirdas Brazauskas continued as the Prime Minister of Lithuania.
The previous parliamentary elections were held on 8 October 2000. The Liberal Union of Lithuania emerged as the largest party in the parliament, with 34 of the 141 seats in the Eighth Seimas, followed by New Union (Social Liberals) with 29. The two parties formed a coalition government, with Rolandas Paksas of the Liberal Union as Prime Minister and Artūras Paulauskas of the New Union as Speaker. [1]
However, the coalition was not long-lived, and at the end of June 2001, the New Union formed a new coalition government with the Social Democratic Party, with Algirdas Brazauskas as Prime Minister. In the 2000 elections, the Social-Democratic Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas, consisting of Democratic Labour Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Union of the Russians of Lithuania and the New Democracy Party, had won 51 seats. The Democratic Labour Party and Social Democrats, which had together won 45 of those seats, merged in 2001 under the name of the latter.
Paksas, who had left the Liberal Union by the end of 2001, was elected President of Lithuania in 2003. In April 2004 he was impeached by the Seimas and removed from office, with Paulauskas serving as the acting president until elections later that year.
Lithuania became a member of the European Union on 9 May 2004. The first elections to the European Parliament took place at the same day as the presidential election. The Labour Party, which was founded in October 2003, received almost one-third of all votes in the European elections and the party was seen as the frontrunner for the parliamentary elections.
All seats in the 141-member Seimas were up for election in parallel voting, with 71 members elected in single-seat constituencies and 70 members elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. Voting in the elections was open to all citizens of Lithuania who are at least 18-years-old. 70 seats were allocated to the participating political parties using the largest remainder method, with a 5% threshold (7% for multi-party lists) to enter the parliament. Candidates took the seats allocated to their parties based on the preference lists submitted before the elections and adjusted by preference votes given by the voters. [2] These elections were the first ones, when positive preference votes were given in the parliamentary election (this system was introduced in 1999 for 2000 Lithuanian municipal elections and in 2003 for 2004 European Parliament election). [3] [4] Each voter has five preference votes at maximum. [5]
Due to amendment in the Constitution of Lithuania in July 2004, [6] the first round took place on 10 October 2004 (the second Sunday of October). Also, these elections were first ones with permanently set voting day (in 1992, 1996 and 2000 parliamentary elections voting date were set on initiative of Supreme Soviet or President of Republic). [7]
In a change from the elections in 2000, [8] members of the Seimas in the 71 single-seat constituencies were once again elected by a majority vote, with a run-off held on 24 October. [2] Also, changes to Seimas Elections' Act were imposed to the elections in single member constituencies. Prior these changes, voting results in single member constituencies would not be declared valid if voter turnout was below 40 per cent mark (due to this, second round voting in Kaišiadorys constituency from 1993 to 1995 took place four times before member of Seimas was elected). After these changes, second round voting results would be declared valid no matter of voter turnout. [9]
To be eligible for election, candidates had to be at least 25-years-old on the election day, not under allegiance to a foreign state and permanently resident in Lithuania. Persons serving or due to serve a sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the elections were not eligible. Also, judges, citizens performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments could not stand for election.
In February 2003, the Municipal Elections' Act was amended. The amendement forbade dual mandate of Seimas and municipal council membership. [10]
In May 2004, the Constitutional Court of Lithuania decided that a person removed from office through impeachement for breaching the oath of office can not stand in parliamentary or presidential elections, or serve on the government, disqualifying Paksas from the elections. [11]
Opinion polls suggested that Labour Party, coalition "Working for Lithuania", Homeland Union and Liberal and Centre Union would be the main contenders in the elections. [2]
Labour Party was founded in October 2003, a year before the elections, by a Russian-born businessman and member of the Seimas Viktor Uspaskich and won the elections to the European Parliament earlier in 2004. The populist party campaigned on the promise of increasing living standards and fighting corruption. Many of its promises, such as lowering prices by 10 to 20%, increasing the minimum salary and pensions, tax holidays for newly established companies, all within less than three years, were criticized by economists as unfeasible. [12] Nevertheless, the party garnered strong support in rural areas and small towns. [2]
"Working for Lithuania" was the coalition of the Social Democrats (led by Prime Minister, Algirdas Brazauskas) and the New Union (led by the Speaker of the Seimas, Artūras Paulauskas) parties, which had led the government since 2001. The coalition campaigned on their record in the government and promised further economic growth, lower unemployment and increases in salaries and pensions. [2] The prospects for electoral coalition was raised by July 2004, when the New Union (Social Liberals) failed to reach five per cent threshold in 2004 European Parliament elections. [13] In two single-member constituencies (No. 30 (Alytus) and No. 56 (Trakai-Elektrėnai)) Julius Sabatauskas and Dangutė Mikutienė competed with Artūras Skardžius and Vytautas Petkevičius respectively, who were supported by the coalition. [14]
Conservative Homeland Union, led by Andrius Kubilius, once again campaigned pointed to dangers posed to Lithuania by Russia. [2] The party allied itself with the Liberal and Centre Union, led by Artūras Zuokas but headed in the elections by Petras Auštrevičius. Several members of the party, including Zuokas, had been under investigation for corruption and financial fraud. [12]
Finally, the Liberal Democratic Party of Rolandas Paksas led a coalition "For the Order and Justice". Since Paksas was barred from participating in the elections, its electoral list was headed by Valentinas Mazuronis. Paksas had expressed hopes that the electoral list would win 50 seats in the Seimas. [12]
Altogether, around 600 candidates competed in the single-seat constituencies, while over 1,100 candidates were included in the electoral lists for the nationwide constituency. [2]
![]() | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. |
![]() | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party or alliance | Proportional | Constituency (first round) | Constituency (second round) | Total seats | +/– | |||||||||
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||||
Labour Party | 340,035 | 28.44 | 22 | 248,214 | 21.39 | 1 | 328,454 | 34.11 | 16 | 39 | New | |||
Working for Lithuania | Social Democratic Party of Lithuania | 246,852 | 20.65 | 9 | 152,698 | 13.16 | 3 | 113,417 | 11.78 | 8 | 20 | –28 | ||
New Union (Social Liberals) | 7 | 51,772 | 4.46 | 0 | 50,779 | 5.27 | 4 | 11 | –18 | |||||
Homeland Union (Lithuanian Conservatives) | 176,409 | 14.75 | 11 | 167,220 | 14.41 | 0 | 168,296 | 17.48 | 14 | 25 | +16 | |||
For Order and Justice | Liberal Democratic Party | 135,807 | 11.36 | 9 | 81,570 | 7.03 | 0 | 14,962 | 1.55 | 1 | 10 | New | ||
Lithuanian People's Union For a Fair Lithuania [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 5,264 | 0.45 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||||
Liberal and Centre Union | 109,872 | 9.19 | 7 | 143,658 | 12.38 | 0 | 133,079 | 13.82 | 11 | 18 | New | |||
Peasants and New Democratic Party Union | 78,902 | 6.60 | 5 | 89,006 | 7.67 | 0 | 41,266 | 4.29 | 5 | 10 | New | |||
Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania | 45,302 | 3.79 | 0 | 41,805 | 3.60 | 1 | 20,514 | 2.13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||
Christian Conservative Social Union | 23,426 | 1.96 | 0 | 21,695 | 1.87 | 0 | 14,836 | 1.54 | 0 | 0 | –1 | |||
Lithuanian Christian Democrats | 16,362 | 1.37 | 0 | 29,375 | 2.53 | 0 | 6,458 | 0.67 | 0 | 0 | –2 | |||
National Centre Party | 5,989 | 0.50 | 0 | 2,400 | 0.21 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||
Republican Party | 4,326 | 0.36 | 0 | 3,440 | 0.30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Lithuanian Social Democratic Union | 3,977 | 0.33 | 0 | 9,340 | 0.80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Lithuanian Liberty Union | 3,337 | 0.28 | 0 | 3,481 | 0.30 | 0 | 0 | –1 | ||||||
National Party Lithuanian Way | 2,577 | 0.22 | 0 | 797 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||
Lithuanian Nationalist Union | 2,482 | 0.21 | 0 | 5,904 | 0.51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Lithuanian Russian Union | 13,065 | 1.13 | 0 | 0 | –3 | |||||||||
Lithuanian Polish People's Party | 4,840 | 0.42 | 0 | 0 | New | |||||||||
Young Lithuania | 2,252 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | –1 | |||||||||
Independents [lower-alpha 1] | 82,703 | 7.13 | 0 | 70,971 | 7.37 | 6 | 6 | +3 | ||||||
Total | 1,195,655 | 100.00 | 70 | 1,160,499 | 100.00 | 5 | 963,032 | 100.00 | 66 | 141 | 0 | |||
Valid votes | 1,195,655 | 97.31 | 1,160,499 | 94.53 | 963,032 | 96.20 | ||||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 32,998 | 2.69 | 67,149 | 5.47 | 38,072 | 3.80 | ||||||||
Total votes | 1,228,653 | 100.00 | 1,227,648 | 100.00 | 1,001,104 | 100.00 | ||||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,666,196 | 46.08 | 2,666,199 | 46.04 | 2,486,750 | 40.26 | ||||||||
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Strathclyde University, VRK |
The elections were won by the Labour Party, which claimed 39 of the 141 seats in the Seimas. Nevertheless, newspaper Rzeczpospolita indicated that the result was a disappointment for the party, which had expected a better result in the second round of voting in single-seat constituencies. [15]
Coalition "Working for Lithuania" finished second in elections, with Social Democrats and New Union winning 20 and 11 seats, respectively. Homeland Union won 25 seats, more than double their tally in the previous elections.
Several aspects of the electoral campaign and voting came under criticism. In particular, allegations of vote buying, mostly implicating the Labour Party, emerged in voting by post, prompting the Seimas to consider changes in voting procedures. [16] Social Democrats and New Union also accused the Labour Party of violating the rules for electoral campaigns and exceeding campaign spending limits. [17]
Several possible coalitions emerged after the elections. Homeland Union and Liberal and Centre Union indicated their willingness to join a "rainbow" coalition with the Social Democratic Party, excluding only Labour and Liberal Democrats. [18] Labour joined forces with Peasants and New Democratic Party Union and invited Social Democratic Party to join. [19] Brazauskas initially ruled out a coalition with Labour Party, [20] but eventually Social Democratic Party and New Union (Social Liberals) joined forces with the Labour Party and the Peasants, with Brazauskas as the Prime Minister. [21]
Politics of Lithuania takes place in a framework of a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Lithuania is the head of state and the prime minister of Lithuania is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.
The New Union (Social Liberals) (Lithuanian: Naujoji sąjunga (socialliberalai), NS) was a social-liberal political party in Lithuania. The NS was a member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) and an observer of the Liberal International. It was founded in 1998 and is led by Artūras Paulauskas.
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, or simply the Seimas, is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendments to the Constitution, passing the budget, confirming the Prime Minister and the Government and controlling their activities.
The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union is a green-conservative and agrarian political party in Lithuania led by Ramūnas Karbauskis. The party is considered one of the main representatives of the left wing of Lithuanian politics. Lithuanian journalist Virgis Valentinavicius described the party as "the mixture of the extreme left in economic matters and the extreme right in some social issues, all spiced up with an anti-establishment rhetoric of radical change".
Order and Justice, formerly the Liberal Democratic Party was a right-wing national-conservative political party in Lithuania that self-identified as "left-of-centre", at least on economic matters. It had eight members in the Seimas, the unicameral Lithuanian parliament, as of the last election it participated in (2016).
Elections in Lithuania are held to select members of the parliament, the president, members of the municipal councils and mayors, as well as delegates to the European Parliament. Lithuanian citizens can also vote in mandatory or consultative referendums.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 12 October 2008, with a second round on 26 October in the constituencies where no candidate won a majority in the first round of voting. All 141 seats in the Seimas were up for election; 71 in single-seat constituencies elected by majority vote and the remaining 70 in a nationwide constituency based on proportional representation. Together with the elections, a referendum on extending the operation of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant was held.
Supreme Soviet elections were held in the Lithuanian SSR on 24 February with run-off elections on 4, 7, 8 and 10 March 1990 to elect the 141 members of the Supreme Soviet. In six constituencies, voter turnout was below the required minimum and a third round was held on 17 and 21 April. For the first time since 1940 elections to the People's Seimas, non-communist candidates were allowed to run. The elections were the first free nationwide elections since 1926, and only the fifth free elections in all of Lithuanian history.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania in two stages on 25 October and 15 November 1992. A total of 141 members were elected to the Seimas, which replaced the Supreme Council; 70 were elected using proportional representation and 71 from single-member constituencies. Where no candidate in the single-member constituecies received more than 50% of the vote on 25 October, a run-off was held on 15 November. The first round of the elections were held simultaneously with a referendum on the adoption of a new constitution.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania in two stages on 20 October and 10 November 1996. All 141 seats in the Seimas were up for election; 70 based on proportional party lists and 71 in single member constituencies. Where no candidate gained more than 50% of the vote on 20 October, a run-off was held on 10 November.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 8 October 2000. All 141 seats in the Seimas were up for election, 71 of them in single-seat constituencies based on first-past-the-post voting; the remaining 70, in a nationwide constituency based on proportional representation. Altogether, around 700 candidates competed in the single-seat constituencies, while over 1,100 candidates were included in the electoral lists for the nationwide constituency.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 14 October 2012, with a second round on 28 October in the constituencies where no candidate won a majority in the first round of voting. All 141 seats in the Seimas were up for election; 71 in single-seat constituencies elected by majority vote and the remaining 70 in a nationwide constituency based on proportional representation. Together with the elections, a referendum on the construction of a new nuclear power plant was held.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 9 and 23 October 2016 to elect the 141 members of the Seimas. 71 were elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system, and the remaining 70 in a single nationwide constituency using proportional representation. The first round was held on 9 October and the second round on 23 October.
The Sixth Seimas of Lithuania was the first parliament (Seimas) elected in Lithuania after it restored independence on 11 March 1990. Elections took place on 25 October 1992, with the second round on 15 November. In a surprisingly decisive outcome, the elections were won by Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (LDDP), with 73 seats. The result reflected widespread dissatisfaction with the economic situation and the policies of the ruling Sąjūdis political movement in the preceding Supreme Council of Lithuania.
The Eighth Seimas of Lithuania was a parliament (Seimas) elected in Lithuania. Elections took place on 8 October 2000. The Seimas commenced its work on 19 October 2000 and served a four-year term, with the last session on 11 November 2004.
The Second Brazauskas Cabinet was the 13th cabinet of Lithuania since 1990. It consisted of the Prime Minister and 13 government ministers.
The First Brazauskas Cabinet was the 12th cabinet of Lithuania since 1990. It consisted of the Prime Minister and 13 government ministers.
The Second Paksas Cabinet was the 11th cabinet of Lithuania since 1990. It consisted of the Prime Minister and 13 government ministers.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 11 and 25 October 2020 to elect the 141 members of the Seimas. 71 were elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system, and the remaining 70 in a single nationwide constituency using proportional representation. The first round was held on 11 October and the second round on 25 October.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Lithuania by 6 October 2024, with a second round two weeks thereafter.