Lithuania - Election 2020 - Seimas
Members of the Seimas are elected for a term of four years. Regular elections to the Seimas are held on the second Sunday of October, in the year of the expiration of the powers of the Seimas members. These elections are announced by the President of Republic not later than six months prior to the expiration of the powers of the Seimas members. Under Lithuania's hybrid election system, half of the 141-member parliament were elected on 11 October 2020 in a proportional vote. Political parties will win seats in the multi-member constituency if they manage to collect at least 5 percent of votes from the total number of votes in the election.
The remaining lawmakers are elected in constituencies, with a run-off vote for the top two candidates in each of them scheduled on 25 October 2020.
A total of 1,754 candidates, representing political parties or independents, are running for Lithuania's parliament, with men making up 66.7 percent, and women, 33.3 percent. Compared to the 2016 election, 339 more people are running for parliament this year. The Central Electoral Commission produced an average candidate profile. It’s a 50-year-old male, named Vytautas, with higher education and assets, securities and cash funds worth almost 147,000 euros. Seventeen political parties have produced candidate list for the upcoming election. In 2016, there were 12 political parties and two coalitions. Six parties got in to the Seimas.
All the major parties share the same pro-EU and pro-NATO views, and support Vilnius's desire to rally EU countries' support for Belarus's democratic opposition after a disputed presidential election in the neighbouring country. Only minor adjustments are likely in the EU and in foreign policy, as there is a broad and strong consensus on the main directions.
Prime minister Skvernelis, who is more popular among low-income rural voters, pledged to continue the fight against social inequality and to introduce an annual cash bonus, known as the "13th month's pension" for the elderly. A former head of the national police force, Skvernelis had hoped to form a coalition with potential allies the Social Democrats and the populist Labour Party.
Lithuania's main opposition party, the center-right Homeland Union, appeared likely to win Sunday's first round of a national election, seen as a vote of no-confidence on Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis' handling of the coronavirus crisis. With about 50% of votes counted, the party, which has roots in the 1980s anti-Soviet independence movement, was in the lead with 20.5%. The Farmers and Greens party (LVZS), an agrarian grouping that leads Skvernelis' ruling coalition, was at 19.5%.
The Lithuanian center-right opposition won the second round of legislative elections. With the pandemic and social inequalities as the main issues at stake, the Homeland Union party (TS–LKD) and its allies were well-placed to prevail over the current centre-left government after a strong showing in the first round of parliamentary elections which took place on October 11.
The non-final results show the conservative TS-LKD securing 50 seats, while the incumbent prime minister Saulius Skvernelis' Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union will have 32 representatives. The conservatives' potential partners – the Liberal Movement and Freedom Party – won 13 and 11 mandates respectively, meaning that the three parties are looking at 74 seats in the 141-seat legislature. The Social Democratic Party (LSDP) will have 13 MPs, and the Labour Party will have ten seats, the preliminary results show. The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance (LLRA-KŠS) and the Social Democratic Labour Party (LSDDP) will have three representatives each. Voter turnout stood at 39.7 percent.
With a combined 73 seats out of 141, the center-right parties had enough support to start coalition talks to replace the outgoing centre-left government. With one seat undergoing a recount, it is possible the haul of seats will rise to 74. Skvernelis lost his constituency seat but will be returned to parliament in one of the party's list seats.
During the campaign, the rival political camps focused on fighting the epidemic and reducing economic and educational disparities between urban and rural areas in Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million people.
Lithuania's gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to contract by only 1.8 per cent this year, the best result in the eurozone, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The former Finance Minister, Ingrida Šimonyte, who was expected to become head of government after her faction's win, pledged to accelerate the modernisation of the economy from the current cheap labour model to higher value-added production. Šimonyte criticised her rival Skvernelis for failing to prepare the country for the second wave of the pandemic. Popular among young urban dwellers, the 45-year-old woman is expected to seek a coalition with two liberal parties, both also led by women, after her party received the most seats in the election.
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