SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
STATUTE
5 October 1993 No. I-259
Vilnius
PART 6
ELECTION, APPOINTMENT, AND APPROVAL OF OFFICERS
Chapter 17. The Procedure for Electing Members
of the Seimas Board
Article 149. Members of the Seimas Board shall be elected at
the first session of the Seimas from among the Seimas members for
the entire period during which the Seimas is in office.
Upon the resignation, demise, or dismissal by the Seimas of
any member of the Seimas Board from office, or upon the election
or appointment of a member to another office, elections for a new
Board member to fill the post shall be held during the next
sitting of the Seimas in accordance with the procedure provided
for in this Statute.
Article 150. The Seimas Speaker shall be elected by secret
ballot at the first sitting of the Seimas following elections.
Candidates to the office of Seimas Speaker may be nominated
by parliamentary groups of the Seimas by written application;
during the first Seimas session following elections, when
parliamentary groups have yet to be registered, said candidates
may be nominated by groups consisting of at least 1/15 of the
Seimas members.
Article 151. Candidates to the offices of deputy of the
Seimas Speaker and the Seimas Chancellor shall be nominated by
the Seimas Speaker. Said officers shall be elected by secret
ballot.
Article 155. After being nominated to a post, candidates
must, prior to the elections, state whether or not they agree to
run for election.
Each candidate, in alphabetical order, shall be granted the
floor for 15 minutes; candidates to the office of Seimas Speaker
shall be entitled to 30 minutes; the same amount of time shall
be allotted to said persons to answer questions. Thereafter, if
the Seimas members so desire, a debate shall commence.
Article 157. Voting for each candidate shall be done
separately. If more candidates than necessary are nominated for
election to one office, voting shall be done by ballot with a
list of candidates.
Article 158. Voting results shall be valid if more than half
of the Seimas members present at the sitting vote for the
candidate, with the exception of repeat voting as provided for in
this Chapter when the candidate who has received a relative
majority of votes shall be deemed elected; however, in this case,
at least half of all of the members of the Seimas must be present
at the sitting.
In the event that no candidate receives the required
majority of votes, or if it is impossible to determine which of
the candidates have been elected due to a tie, a repeat vote
shall be held.
Article 159. In voting for an empty post when there are more
than two candidates, all of the candidates, with the exception of
those who received the lowest number of votes, shall remain on
the ballot for repeat balloting. If several candidates have tied
for the lowest number of votes and two or more candidates
received more votes, the candidates with the lowest number of
votes shall be removed from the next ballot. Otherwise, all of
the candidates shall remain on the next ballot. If the situation
remains unchanged after the repeat vote, the election shall be
postponed to another day. If two candidates receive the required
number of votes, the provisions of Par. 2 hereof shall apply.
If there are two candidates for an empty office during a
repeat vote, the Seimas member who received more votes shall be
deemed to have been elected. In the event of a tie, a repeat vote
shall be held the next day; if no candidate is elected during the
repeat vote, a new election shall be held.
Article 160. When elections to several unfilled offices are
held simultaneously and the number of candidates exceeds the
number of offices, the names of all of the candidates who were
nominated but not elected shall be entered on the ballots for
repeat voting. After the repeat vote, the candidates who received
the most votes shall be deemed to have been elected. When
necessary, balloting shall be repeated another day.
Chapter 18. Consideration of the Prime Minister's Candidature
and the Government Programme
Article 162. In the cases provided for in the Constitution,
the Seimas shall, upon receiving a nomination for the candidature
of the Prime Minister from the President of the Republic, give
the President of the Republic an opportunity to present the
candidate during the next sitting. Upon presenting the
candidature of the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic
shall not be asked any questions. After the President of the
Republic has presented the candidature of the Prime Minister, the
candidate shall be granted the floor (for up to 30 minutes);
thereafter the candidate shall answer questions put to him by the
members of the Seimas (for up to 40 minutes).
Thereafter, the candidature of the Prime Minister shall be
referred to parliamentary groups of the Seimas for consideration.
Parliamentary groups shall have the right to invite the candidate
to their sittings and question him or her at a time coordinated
with the candidate.
Parliamentary groups must consider the candidature of the
Prime Minister within 2 work days.
Article 163. Another sitting of the Seimas must be organised
within 5 work days from the presentation of the candidature of
the Prime Minister in order to adopt a decision concerning the
proposed candidacy.
During this sitting, the conclusions of parliamentary groups
shall be heard first. Thereafter, a discussion shall be held
during the end of which the candidate shall be granted the floor
(for up to 20 minutes), and shall also be given the opportunity
to answer questions presented by members of the Seimas (for up to
30 minutes).
Once the candidate finishes answering questions, a vote
shall be taken on whether or not the candidature of the Prime
Minister should be approved.
The President of the Republic has the right to revoke the
nominated candidature at any time up until the beginning of the
vote for approval.
Article 164. Upon obtaining approval from the Seimas, the
Prime Minister shall, within 15 days of being appointed, present
a Government formed by him or her and approved by the President
of the Republic to the Seimas and submit the Government programme
for consideration. Members of the newly-formed Government shall
have the right to be present at the presentation. The Government
programme must be distributed among the Seimas members at least
24 hours prior to the sitting.
When explaining the programme, the Prime Minister may speak
for up to 40 minutes. A total of one hour shall be allotted for
answering questions. Questions may be presented to the Prime
Minister and any of the ministers.
Article 165. After being presented, the Government programme
shall be considered by the Seimas parliamentary groups, while
appropriate Seimas Committees shall consider the individual
sections thereof.
Committees and parliamentary groups shall have the right to
invite the Prime Minister or other minister, at a time
coordinated therewith, to answer questions concerning the
Government programme.
Seimas Committees and parliamentary groups must prepare
their conclusions concerning the Government programme within 10
days after it is presented.
Article 166. The Seimas must consider the Government
programme during a sitting within 15 days after it is presented.
Conclusions of the Committees and parliamentary groups shall
be heard at the sitting first. Thereafter, a debate shall be held
at the termination whereof the Prime Minister shall be granted
the floor (for up to 20 minutes); the Prime Minister and
ministers shall also be given the opportunity to answer questions
presented by the Seimas members one more time (for a total period
of up to one hour).
The debate concerning the Government programme may be
terminated by majority vote of more than half of the voting
members of the Seimas. Such a proposal shall be put to vote
without discussion provided that at least one other member of the
Seimas expresses support therefor.
When the question and answer session has been completed, the
Seimas must adopt a decision concerning the Government programme.
In the event that the Government programme is not approved or is
returned to the Government for improvement thereof, a revised
version of the Government programme must be presented to the
Seimas within 10 days, and the procedure for discussion thereof
shall be repeated in the manner established in Articles 164, 165,
and 166.
Article 167. The new Government shall be granted
authorisation to act after the Seimas approves its programme by
majority vote of the Seimas members present at the sitting.
In the event that the Seimas refuses to approve the
programme of the newly-formed Government twice consecutively,
the Government must resign.
Article 169. When more than a half of the ministers are
changed, the Government must be granted authorisation by the
Seimas again. Otherwise the Government must resign.
If more than half of the ministers have been replaced, the
Prime Minister must, within 7 days of the appointment of the last
new minister, present the newly appointed ministers, as well as
the amendments to the Government programme if amendments have
been made, during a sitting of the Seimas in order to be granted
new authorisation; in the event that said changes were made
between sessions, the Prime Minister must make said presentations
during the first 7 days of the next Seimas session.
During the presentation the Seimas members may pose
questions to the Prime Minister and the newly appointed ministers
(for a total of 30 minutes).
In the event that amendments to the Government programme are
presented, discussion shall be continued according to the
procedure established in Articles 165 and 166 of this Statute.
Otherwise, a discussion shall be held immediately after the
presentation, whereafter the Seimas may take a vote concerning
the granting of authorisation or may decide to refer the issue
to the Committees and parliamentary groups for consideration, but
for no longer than 7 days. In the latter case a discussion shall
be held after the conclusions of the Committees and parliamentary
groups have been presented, and a vote concerning the granting of
authorisation shall be taken upon hearing an additional speech by
the Prime Minister (not exceeding 15 minutes).
Chapter 19. Consideration of Candidatures of other State
Officers, Constitutional Court Judges, and Supreme Court Judges
and their Appointment
Article 170. The Seimas shall appoint the judges of the
Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court as well as the
chairpersons of these Courts and shall also appoint officers of
the State and appoint or form collegiate institutions (in
corpore) which are provided for in the Constitution and laws of
the Republic of Lithuania. The persons who shall nominate
candidates to the above offices shall be established by the
Constitution and other appropriate laws.
The Seimas shall also decide whether or not to approve of
the candidatures of the judges and officers appointed by the
President of the Republic if this is provided for in the
Constitution and laws of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 171. Candidates to offices whereto officers are
appointed by the Seimas or offices for the appointment whereto
approval of the Seimas is required shall be presented at Seimas
sittings by the person who nominated said candidate or proposed
the composition of a collegiate institution (in corpore). A
maximum of 10 minutes shall be allotted for the presentation of
individual candidates, whereas a maximum of 20 minutes shall be
allotted for the presentation of members of a collegiate
institution. The biographical data of the candidates must be
distributed to the Seimas members prior to the presentation.
Information concerning candidatures of Constitutional Court
and Supreme Court judges must be published in national newspapers
at least two weeks before their presentation in the Seimas.
The candidates, including cases when collegiate institutions
(in corpore) are being formed, must attend the Seimas sitting at
which they are presented.
After being presented, candidates to Constitutional Court
and Supreme Court judges as well as candidates to heads of State
institutions shall be granted the floor (for a maximum of 10
minutes). All candidates must, without exception, answer
questions put to them by members of the Seimas: up to 15 minutes
shall be allotted to each candidate to the Constitutional Court
and the Supreme Court judge as well as to every other individual
candidate, and up to 30 minutes shall be allotted to all of the
candidates to a collegiate institution.
Article 172. After being presented, candidatures shall be
considered by the Seimas parliamentary groups and appropriate
Committees, as well as by the Commission on Ethics and
Procedures.
Parliamentary groups, Committees, and the Commission on
Ethics and Procedures shall have the right to invite candidates,
at a time coordinated with them, to attend their respective
sittings in order to pose questions to them.
Parliamentary groups, Committees, and the Commission on
Ethics and Procedures must present their conclusions concerning
candidatures to the Seimas within 7 days from the presentation of
the candidature.
Article 173. The suggested candidatures must be considered
in a sitting of the Seimas within 10 days from their
presentation. This sitting must be attended by the person who
presented the candidatures as well as the candidates, including
candidates to collegiate institutions (in corpore).
The conclusions of parliamentary groups, Committees, and the
Commission on Ethics and Procedures shall be heard first.
Thereafter a discussion shall be held, during the end whereof
members of the Seimas shall be given the opportunity to pose
questions to the candidates and the person who presented the
candidatures (up to 20 minutes shall be allotted to individual
candidates and up to 30 minutes shall be allotted to collegiate
institutions). Furthermore, candidates to the Constitutional
Court and the Supreme Court judges, and heads of State
institutions shall be granted the floor (for a maximum of 10
minutes) prior to being questioned.
Thereafter the Seimas shall take a vote concerning the
appointment of judges to the Constitutional Court and the Supreme
Court and of other officers, the appointment or formation of a
collegiate institution (in corpore), or the approval of a
candidature appointed by the president of the Republic.
Article 174. Prior to beginning their work, judges of the
Constitutional and Supreme Courts shall take an oath in the
Seimas to be loyal to the Republic of Lithuania and the
Constitution thereof, and to administer justice only in
accordance with the laws. Other newly-appointed officers shall
publicly take an oath during a sitting of the Seimas if it is so
provided in the laws regulating the activities of their
respective State institution.
Article 181. If an officer of the State or a court judge is
dismissed, resigns, or for some other reason cannot continue to
carry out his or her duties, another person must, during a
session of the Seimas, be appointed or approved to said post
within one month of the beginning of the vacancy or the beginning
of the session.
Speaker of the Seimas
of the Republic of Lithuania Ceslovas Jursenas