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STATE STRUCTURE The
Republic of Lithuania is an independent democratic state expressing
the common will and interests of its people. The foundations of
the social system are enforced by the Constitution of the Republic
of Lithuania adopted in 1992, by a referendum which also establishes
the rights, freedoms and obligations of its citizens. Under this
Constitution, sovereign state power is vested in the people of Lithuania
and is exercised by the Seimas (Parliament), the President of the
Republic, the Government and the Courts. THE
SEIMAS The Seimas consists of 141 members who are elected for
a four year term on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage
by secret ballot. The structure and procedure of activities of the
Seimas are determined by the Statute of the Seimas which has the
power of the law. The Seimas elects its Chairperson and three Deputy
(Vice) Chairpersons. The present Seimas was elected on October 25),
1996. The present Chairman of the Seimas of Republic of Lithuania
is Vytautas Landsbergis. is a one-chamber parliament which deliberates
on and enacts amendments to the Constitution. Its remits are to
enacts laws; adopt resolutions regarding the organization of the
referendum; call presidential elections; approve or reject the candidacy
of the Prime Minister proposed by the President of the Republic;
review the programme of the Government submitted by the Prime Minister
and decide whether to approve it or not; upon the recommendation
of the Government, establish or abolish ministries of the Republic
of Lithuania; supervise the activities of the Government; and may
adopt a motion of no-confidence in the Prime Minister or individual
Ministers; appoint judges to, and Chairpersons of, the Constitutional
Court and the Supreme Court; appoint to, and dismiss from office,
the State Controller as well as the Chairperson of the Board of
the Bank of Lithuania; call local government Council election; establish
the Central Electoral Committee and change its composition; approve
the State budget and supervise the implementation thereof; fix State
taxes and other obligatory payments; ratify or denounce international
treaties whereto the Republic of Lithuania is a party, and consider
other issues of foreign policy. A new obligation of the Seimas is
the appointment of the Ombudsman on Equal Opportunities for Women
and Men. The
Seimas is composed of 141 members elected for a four-year term.
The Seimas elects its Chairperson (the Speaker) and Deputy Chairperson(s). THE
PRESIDENT of the Republic is the head of State. From 1993 the
Republic of Lithuania has the Presidents institution. The President
represents the State of Lithuania and performs all the duties which
he or she is charged with by the Constitution and laws. The President
of the Republic of Lithuania is elected by the citizens of the Republic
of Lithuania on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage
by secret ballot for a term of five years. The
first democratically and directly elected President of the Republic
was Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas, who was elected on February 14,
1993. Recent presidential elections were held on December 21, 1997,
resulting in the election of Valdas Adamkus, who took office on
February 25, 1998. THE
GOVERNMENT is the highest authority of executive power. It comprises
of the Prime Minister and Ministers. The Prime Minister is appointed
or dismissed by the President of the Republic, with the approval
of the Seimas. Ministers are appointed by the President of the Republic
on the nomination of the Prime Minister. The
Government administers the affairs of the country, protects the
inviolability of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, and
ensures State security and public order; implements laws and resolutions
of the Seimas, as well as the decrees of the President; co-ordinates
the activities of the ministries and other governmental institutions;
prepares the draft budget of the State and submits it to the Seimas;
executes the State Budget and reports on the fulfilment of the budget
to the Seimas; drafts bills and submits them to the Seimas for consideration;
establishes diplomatic relations and maintains relations with foreign
countries and international organisations; and discharges other
duties prescribed to the Government by the Constitution and other
laws. The
current Lithuanian Government is headed by the Prime Minister Rolandas
Paksas. The Government consists of 14 Ministers and 14 Ministries.
The
present government was recently re-formed and started its work on
June10, 1999, following the resignation of the government composed
of the Conservatives and the Christian- democrats on the grounds
of the non-confidence expressed by the President. The new government
is formed again by Conservatives and Christian- democrats with representation
of the Central Party. The
PROGRAM OF THE GOVERNMENT of Lithuania outlines the following strategic
foreign policy goals:
In
implementing these goals Lithuania seeks to participate fully in
the Western political, economic and collective security structures,
while at the same time maintaining extensive bilateral ties and
good neighborhood relations with its Eastern neighbors. Lithuania
is also committed to active participation in global as well as regional
international organizations. LOCAL
SELF-GOVERNMENT is organized on the basis of the administrative-territorial
division of Lithuania. Apskritys- Districts- the largest local administrative
units. Urban settlements and district towns constitute the lower
level of local self-government, which is represented by the municipal
councils elected by the local population for a period of 3 years
on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
COURTS
AND PROSECUTION. Justice is exercised exclusively by courts. The
court system in Lithuania comprises the Constitutional Court, the
Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, circuit courts and district
courts, made up of elected judges and assessors. Judges of these
courts and of the Supreme Court are elected by the Seimas for a
term of five years. Legal assistance is rendered by the Bar. Criminal
prosecution is exercised by the Prosecutor General of the Republic
of Lithuania and by local prosecutors under his direction. The
Prosecutor General and his deputies are appointed by the Seimas.
Local prosecutors are appointed by the Prosecutor General of the
Republic of Lithuania. As
the part of administrative reform the Administrative courts were
established in 1999. The later essentially fulfilled the work of
the Institution of the Seimas Controllers, who investigated the
violations of citizens rights by the civil servants. Lithuania
has the Constitutional Court responsible to satisfy the requirements
of the Constitution to the Law. The Constitutional Court considers
and adopts decisions concerning the conformity of laws of Republic
of Lithuania and legal acts (legislation). POLITICAL
PARTIES. All 35 political parties enjoy freedom and independence
of action. Their organisational structure is based exclusively on
the territorial principle. The Ministry of Justice registers political
parties. The Law forbids the activity of political parties of other
states in Lithuania. The
main political parties in Lithuania at present are: the Homeland
Union (Lithuanian Conservatives), Christian Democratic, Social Democratic,
Centre and Democratic Labour parties, all presented at the Seimas
as the parliamentary. EDUCATION
AND SCIENCE
Children
start school at the age of 6-7. A minimum education requirement
that is compulsory is nine years. In
addition, there is the Lithuanian Academy of Science, which has
four divisions (social sciences; exact sciences; natural sciences
and technical sciences) and 17 research institutes. |