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Lithuania

https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/

May 2024

Incumbent wins presidential elections and referendum on citizenship fails
Election flag

On 26 May, the incumbent President Gitanas Nausėda (Independent) was re-elected for a second five-year term in a run-off against Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė of the centre-right Homeland Union party (Tėvynės sąjunga-Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai). Nausėda, a former economist at a multinational bank, won the presidential elections in a landslide with 74.2 per cent of the vote. Šimonytė came second with 24.3 per cent, and was the only female among the total eight presidential candidates. The voter turnout in the run-off was 49.7 per cent, whereas in the first round of voting on 12 May it stood at nearly 60 per cent. The two candidates also faced each other in a run-off in the 2019 presidential elections.

In a referendum held on 12 May parallel to the elections, a constitutional amendment to allow Lithuanians to hold dual citizenship failed to pass. Though 74.5 per cent of those who voted approved the change, voter turnout was not sufficiently high to meet the constitutional requirement that at least half of the total Lithuanian electorate must agree. Voter turnout in the referendum was 59.5 per cent.

Sources: VRK (1), VRK (2), LRT (1), LRT (2), Al Jazeera, Euractiv, ConstitutionNet

April 2024

Parliament votes to expand legal recognition of occupation-era exiles

On 18 April, Parliament passed amendments to the law on the legal status of victims of the occupations between 1939-1990. According to the law, the Genocide and Resistance Research Center, under the oversight of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, is responsible for issuing legal status certificates to people repressed for political reasons, political prisoners, exiles and people displaced under the occupation regimes of Nazi Germany and later the Soviet Union. The amendments expand the grounds for the families of former political prisoners and exiles to be recognized as victims of the occupation, making around 400 additional people eligible to receive state support, including an additional state pension for victims on top of their regular social insurance pension.  

Sources: Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas, Jurbarkas, Teises Aktu Registras, LRT, Ministry of Social Security and Labour

Parliament approves report investigating whistleblower allegations

Parliament voted to approve the findings of a temporary parliamentary inquiry commission, which determined the State Security Department (VSD) aided the 2019 election campaign of President Gitanas Nausėda by gathering intelligence on Nausėda’s team members, election staff and supporters. The findings were approved with 64 votes in favour and 44 against. The commission was established in October 2023 to investigate a whistleblower report by a former VSD employee. The inquiry further found Nausėda obstructed the Parliament from carrying out its functions by refusing to testify and found state authorities, including the VSD and the General Prosecutor’s Office, failed to adequately protect the whistleblower’s identity. Nausėda has said that the parliamentary inquiry was designed to discredit him ahead of the May Presidential elections. The report contains proposals for election financing and the protection of whistleblowers’ rights.

Sources: Delfi (1), Delfi (2), Delfi (3), Seimas (1), Seimas (2), LRT (1), LRT (2)

December 2023

Parliament approves changes to accommodation of asylum seekers

Parliament adopted amendments to the procedure for accommodating asylum seekers with 72 votes in favour, four against and 20 abstentions. In June 2023, the Constitutional Court annulled provisions specifying that asylum seekers should be held in temporary accommodation facilities, without the right to move freely within Lithuania, pending a decision on their asylum application. The amendments seek to address the concerns raised in the ruling, by providing that the individual circumstances of asylum seekers must be considered in the decision for accommodation. The changes specify that the right to free movement cannot be restricted, except for in certain circumstances, to be evaluated on an individual basis, but never for a period exceeding 28 days. The amendments provide for the possibility of appeal within 14 days of receiving the accommodation decision and specify conditions for temporary departures from the accommodation territory.

Sources: Seimas, Register of Legal Acts (1), Register of Legal Acts (2), Constitutional Court, International IDEA

October 2023

Parliament approves mandatory disclosure of past party membership

Parliament voted to approve electoral amendments introducing the requirement for candidates to disclose whether they were formerly members of the Communist Party (CPSU), which was banned after Lithuania regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Previously, reporting of past political affiliations via the Central Electoral Commission’s candidate questionnaire had been optional. The amendments passed with 110 votes in favour and one abstention, and follow revelations uncovered by media that President Gitanas Nausėda and at least 18 sitting MPs had formerly been members of the party without reporting this affiliation. Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė called failure to disclose previous affiliations a “mistake”, and observers noted potential adverse impacts on public trust. A parallel proposal, put forward by the conservative Homeland Union party, was rejected, and would have required candidates to declare their Communist Party membership on campaign posters.

Sources: LRT (1), LRT (2), LRT (3), Baltic News Network, 15min

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Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023

Chevron
Representation
21/173
Rights
17/173
Rule of Law
29/173
Participation
54/173
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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
2 795 320
System of government
Semi-Presidential system
Head of government
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė (since 2020)
Head of government party
Homeland Union
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
Parallel
Women in lower or single chamber
29.3%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2020
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
7.77
Head of state
President Gitanas Nausėda
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
26/01/2022
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
State Party
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
No Action
Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
in
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Performance by category over the last 6 months

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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
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Global State of Democracy Indices

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Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
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/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
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high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
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high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
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high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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