Lithuanian presidential election, 1993

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Lithuanian presidential election, 1993
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14 February 1993 1997-98  →

  Algirdas Mykkolas Brazauskas, Litauens statsminster, under det Nordiskt-Baltiska statsministermotet i Reykjavik 2005-10-24.jpg Noimage.png
Nominee Algirdas Brazauskas Stasys Lozoraitis
Party LDDP Independent
Popular vote 1,212,075 772,922
Percentage 60.03% 38.28%
President before election

Algirdas Brazauskas (acting)
LDDP

Elected President

Algirdas Brazauskas
LDDP

Presidential elections were held in Lithuania on 14 February 1993. This was the first presidential election under the new Constitution of Lithuania of October 1992 and since the declaration of independence in March 1990. Algirdas Brazauskas, the former first secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania and the then-current leader of the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (DLPL), won with over 60% of the vote. The runner up was Stasys Lozoraitis, an independent candidate endorsed by the Sąjūdis movement and other political parties. [1]

Lithuania republic in Northeastern Europe

Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Lithuania is considered to be one of the Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2019, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.

Constitution of Lithuania

The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on 25 October 1992.

Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania

The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 was an independence declaration by the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted on March 11, 1990, signed by all members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania led by Sąjūdis. The act emphasized restoration and legal continuity of the interwar-period Lithuania, which was occupied by the USSR and lost independence in June 1940. It was the first time that an occupied state declared independence from the dissolving Soviet Union.

Contents

Campaign and results

The Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, under Brazauskas' leadership, won 73 out of 141 seats in the Seimas (the parliament) in the parliamentary election of October 1992. [2] Based on the earlier success, Brazauskas, who as Speaker of the Seimas was also acting president, was considered a favorite in the presidential election. [1] Vytautas Landsbergis, leader of the pro-independence Sąjūdis movement, withdrew his candidacy in support of Stasys Lozoraitis. [1] Lozoraitis was a Lithuanian diplomat, who spent almost all his life in Italy and the United States representing the interwar independent Lithuania. Because of the Iron Curtain, his work was virtually unknown in Lithuania. No other candidates came forward as other parties, except for the Polish minority in Lithuania, declared their support to Lozoraitis as they became alarmed by the dominance of Brazauskas and his party. [3] [4]

Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania social democratic political party in Lithuania

Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania was a social democratic political party in Lithuania in 1990s. The youth organization of LDDP was called Lithuanian Labourist Youth Union.

Seimas unicameral parliament of Lithuania

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 campaign time was set for three weeks. Lozoraitis brought grace and sophistication to the campaign, stressing his experience in complex foreign affairs. [1] Brazauskas, operating in a familiar environment, was better prepared to address domestic affairs and promised to focus on smoother transition from planned economy to free market. [4] During the campaign, Lozoraitis was labeled as a foreigner, who did not understand current situation in Lithuania and was largely dependent on the unpopular Sąjūdis. [1] Valdas Adamkus, a Lithuanian American who won the presidential election in 1998, assisted Lozoraitis in his campaign. [5]

A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment and the allocation of capital goods take place according to economy-wide economic and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized or participatory forms of economic planning. Planned economies contrast with unplanned economies, specifically market economies, where autonomous firms operating in markets make decisions about production, distribution, pricing and investment. Market economies that use indicative planning are sometimes referred to as planned market economies.

In economics, a free market is a system in which the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market and by consumers. In a free market, the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government or other authority, and from all forms of economic privilege, monopolies and artificial scarcities. Proponents of the concept of free market contrast it with a regulated market in which a government intervenes in supply and demand through various methods, such as tariffs, used to restrict trade and to protect the local economy. In an idealized free-market economy, prices for goods and services are set freely by the forces of supply and demand and are allowed to reach their point of equilibrium without intervention by government policy. The term “free market” is sometimes used as a synonym for laissez-faire capitalism. When most people discuss the “free market,” they mean an economy with unobstructed competition and only private transactions between buyers and sellers.

Valdas Adamkus President of Lithuania

Valdas Adamkus is a Lithuanian politician. He was the President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009.

Brazauskas gained majority of the votes everywhere, except in Kaunas, and did particularly well in areas inhabited by Russian and Polish minorities. [1] Because he gained more than 50% of the votes in the first round, no second round was needed. The inauguration ceremony took place on February 25, 1993. [4] In May 1993, just a few months after the election, Brazauskas recalled Lozoraitis as ambassador to the U.S. despite criticism of politicizing the issue. [6]

Kaunas City in Lithuania

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and the historical centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the centre of a county in Trakai Municipality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915.

Inauguration formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a major public leaders term of office, or official opening or beginning of an institution or structure

An inauguration mainly refers to the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event.

Summary of results

Summary of the 14 February 1993 election [7]
Candidates Nominating party 1st round
Votes%
Algirdas Brazauskas Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania 1,212,075 60.03%
Stasys Lozoraitis Independent 772,922 38.28%
Invalid votes 34,016 1.68%
Totals (turnout 78.07%) 2,019,013 100%

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vardys, Vytas Stanley; Judith B. Sedaitis (1997). Lithuania: The Rebel Nation. Westview Series on the Post-Soviet Republics. WestviewPress. pp. 199–201. ISBN   0-8133-1839-4.
  2. ↑ Popescu, Marina; Martin Hannavy (2002-12-12). "1992 Parliamentary Elections". Project on Political Transformation and the Electoral Process in Post-Communist Europe. University of Essex. Archived from the original on 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
  3. ↑ Lieven, Anatol (1994). The Baltic revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the path to independence (2nd ed.). Yale University Press. p. 271. ISBN   978-0-300-06078-2.
  4. 1 2 3 Kašauskienė, Vanda (2007). Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės. Jų kaita ir veiklos bruožai 1990–2007 (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Gairės. pp. 200–2003. ISBN   978-9955-759-07-2.
  5. ↑ Lane, Thomas (2001). Lithuania: Stepping Westward. Routledge. p. 146. ISBN   0-415-26731-5.
  6. ↑ Ashbourne, Alexandra (1999). Lithuania: the rebirth of a nation, 1991–1994. Lexington Books. p. 82. ISBN   978-0-7391-0027-1.
  7. ↑ "Elections in Lithuania - Presidential Vote: 1993". Baltic Voices. Centre for the Study of Public Policy, University of Aberdeen. 2007-04-12. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
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