Editing Politics of Lithuania (section)

== History ==
Since Lithuania [[Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania|restored independence]] on 11 March 1990, it has kept democratic traditions. Drawing from the interwar experiences, politicians made many different proposals that ranged from strong [[Parliamentary system|parliamentarism]] to a [[Presidential system|presidential]] [[republic]] with [[Separation of powers#Checks and balances|checks and balances]] similar to the United States. Through compromise, a [[semi-presidential system]] was settled.<ref name="Lina" /> In a [[referendum]] on 25 October 1992, the first general vote of the people since their declared independence, 56.75% of the total number of voters supported the [[Constitution of Lithuania|new constitution]].<ref>[http://www3.lrs.lt/docs2/QKVXRGNF.DOC Nuo 1991 m. iki šiol paskelbtų referendumų rezultatai (Results from Refrenda 1991 – present)], Microsoft Word Document, [[Seimas]]. Accessed 4 June 2006.</ref>

All major political parties declared their support for Lithuania's membership in [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] and the [[European Union]] (EU). Lithuania joined NATO on 29 March 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/lt-nato.htm|title = Lithuania - NATO Membership}}</ref> Lithuania joined the EU on 1 May 2004 and [[Schengen Area]] on 21 December 2007 and [[Eurozone]] on 1 January 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries/member-countries/lithuania_en#trade-and-economy|title=Lithuania|date=5 July 2016}}</ref>

Since 1991, Lithuanian voters have shifted from right to left and back again, swinging between the Conservatives, led by [[Vytautas Landsbergis]], and the (formerly [[Communist Party of Lithuania|Communist]]) [[Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania]], led by president [[Algirdas Brazauskas]]. During this period, the prime minister was [[Gediminas Vagnorius]].

[[Valdas Adamkus]] was the president since 1998. His proposed prime minister was [[Rolandas Paksas]], whose government got off to a rocky start and collapsed within seven months. The alternation between left and right was broken in the October 2000 elections when the [[Liberal Union of Lithuania|Liberal Union]] and [[New Union (Social Liberals)|New Union]] parties won the most votes and were able to form a [[centrist]] ruling coalition with minor partners. President Adamkus played a key role in bringing the new centrist parties together. [[Artūras Paulauskas]], the leader of the centre-left New Union (also known as the social-liberal party), became the Chairman of the Seimas. In July 2001, the [[centre-left]] New Union party forged an alliance with the [[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania]] and formed a new cabinet under former president Algirdas Brazauskas. On 11 April 2006, Artūras Paulauskas was removed from his position and [[Viktoras Muntianas]] was elected Chairman of the Seimas.<ref>[http://www.vaitasassociates.com/government.htm "Government of Lithuania"]. Vil S. Vaitas, P.E. and Associates International Consultants. Fairfax, VA.</ref>

The cabinet of Algirdas Brazauskas resigned on 31 May 2006, as President Valdas Adamkus expressed no confidence in two of the Ministers, formerly party colleagues of Brazauskas, over ethical principles. Brazauskas decided not to remain in office as acting prime minister, and announced that he was finally retiring from politics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/15583/|title=Brazauskas resigns amid governmental collapse}}</ref> Even so, he led the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania for one more year, until 19 May 2007, when he passed the reins to [[Gediminas Kirkilas]]. On 27 November 2008, [[Andrius Kubilius]] of conservative Homeland Union was appointed as a prime minister.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reimagine-europa.eu/bio/andrius-kubilius|title=Andrius Kubilius}}</ref> In December 2012 Andrius Kubilius was succeeded by [[Algirdas Butkevičius]] after his Social Democratic Party became the biggest party in parliamentary [[2012 Lithuanian parliamentary election|elections]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17536869|title = Lithuania profile - Leaders|work = BBC News|date = 29 May 2014}}</ref>

In 2016, [[Lithuanian Peasant and Green Union|The Peasant and Green's Union]] (LGPU) won parliamentary [[2016 Lithuanian parliamentary election|elections]]. It secured 54 seats in the 141-member parliament ([[Seimas]]), making a previously small centrist agrarian party the biggest in parliament. The conservative [[Homeland Union]] won 30 seats. The ruling [[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania|Social Democrats]], led by Lithuania's Prime Minister [[Algirdas Butkevičius|Algirdas Butkevciu]], lost heavily and secured just 17 seats.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/lithuanian-election-brings-major-shake-up/a-36131042|title = Lithuanian election brings major shake-up &#124; DW &#124; 24.10.2016| website=[[Deutsche Welle]] }}</ref> On 22 November 2016, [[Saulius Skvernelis]] of the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union, became new prime minister.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lithuania-pm-idUSKBN13H133|title = Defense hawk Skvernelis to be new Lithuanian prime minister|newspaper = Reuters|date = 22 November 2016|last1 = Sytas|first1 = Andrius}}</ref>

In October 2020, conservative opposition [[Homeland Union|Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats]] (TS-LKD) won parliamentary [[2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election|elections]] with 50 seats. Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis' Union of Farmers and Greens came a distant second with just 32 seats.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/26/centre-right-opposition-wins-lithuanias-parliamentary-election|title = Centre-right opposition wins Lithuania's parliamentary election}}</ref> In November 2020, [[Ingrida Šimonytė]] became new prime minister, after forming a centre-right coalition government of her TS-LKD and two liberal parties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.err.ee/1151388/lithuania-to-get-new-conservative-liberal-coalition-prime-minister|title = Lithuania to get new conservative-liberal coalition prime minister|date = 26 October 2020}}</ref>