Seimas

Not to be confused with Sejm or Saeima.

Seimas
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Irena Degutienė, Homeland Union since 15 September 2009
Structure
Members	141
Political groups	Homeland Union (46)      Social Democratic Party (24)      Order and Justice/AWPL (17)      Liberal and Centre Union (13)      Liberal Movement (12)      Mixed group (11)      Labour Party (10)      Christian Party (8)
Elections
Voting system	Parallel voting with a 5% election threshold for proportional seats (7% for coalitions)
Last election	12 and 26 October 2008
Meeting place
Seimas Palace, Vilnius
Website
www.lrs.lt

Lithuania

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Lithuania

Constitution Constitution Constitutional Court Government President Dalia Grybauskaitė Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius Legislature Seimas Seimas Palace Speaker of the Seimas Irena Degutienė Elections Elections 2000 · 2004 · 2008 Referendums Political parties Subdivisions Counties Municipalities Elderships Foreign policy Foreign relations Ministers of Foreign Affairs Politics of the EU

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The Seimas (full name: Seimas of the Lithuanian Republic, Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas) is the unicameral Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies (71), and the other half (70) are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation. A party must receive at least 5%, and a multi-party union at least 7%, of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas.

The word "Seimas" comes from a Lithuanian word Sueiga, suėjimas, which means "gathering" or "meeting".

Elections

The Seimas uses parallel voting, with elections for the 70 proportional seats and the 71 constituency seats held on separate days. The proportional seats are allocated by the Hare quota, with a 5% election threshold (or 7% for electoral alliances) to gain list seats.

Latest election

v · d · e Summary of the 12 October and 26 October 2008 Lithuanian  Seimas  election results^[1]

Party		Votes (proportional)	%	Seats
				proportional	constituency	total
	Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats	242,939	19.69	18	27	45
	Social Democratic Party of Lithuania	144,675	11.73	10	15	25
	National Resurrection Party	186,150	15.09	13	3	16
	Order and Justice	156,559	12.69	11	4	15
	Liberal Movement	70,549	5.72	5	6	11
	Coalition Labour Party + Youth	111,017	9.00	8	2	10
	Liberal and Centre Union	65,869	5.34	5	3	8
	Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania	59,222	4.80	—	3	3
	Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union	46,109	3.74	—	3	3
	New Union (Social Liberals)	44,935	3.64	—	1	1
	Front	39,966	3.24	—	—	—
	Young Lithuania (Jaunoji Lietuva)	21,545	1.75	—	—	—
	Civic Democratic Party	13,758	1.12	—	—	—
	Union of the Russians of Lithuania	11,323	0.92	—	—	—
	Lithuanian Social Democratic Union (Lietuvos socialdemokratų sąjunga)	10,614	0.86	—	—	—
	Lithuanian Centre Party (Lietuvos centro partija)	8,645	0.70	—	—	—
	Independents	—	—	—	4	4
Total (turnout 48.54%)		1,233,875	100.00	70	71	141

Seimas Palace

Seimas Palace

Seimas Palace (Lithuanian: Seimo Rūmai) was designed by architects Algimantas Nasvytis, his brother Vytautas Nasvytis, and Robertas Stasėnas.^[2]

Plenary Sittings

In the Seimas there are four plenary sitting a week - two on Tuesday and two on Thursday, which are represented by the speaker of the Seimas or his deputy. As a rule, all sittings of the Seimas are open.

See also

• List of Speakers of the Seimas
• Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Notes and references

1. ^ Lithuanian Election Committee (first round, second round)
2. ^ Tomas Venclova. Vilnius. R. Paknys Publishing House, Vilnius, 2002, p. 191.

External links

• (Lithuanian) Seimas official website