Editing Politics of Lithuania (section)

== Government ==
{{Main|Government of the Republic of Lithuania}}
Government in Lithuania is made up of three branches originally envisioned by [[Age of Enlightenment|enlightenment]] [[philosopher]] [[Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu|Baron de Montesquieu]]: [[executive branch|executive]], [[legislative branch|legislative]], and [[judicial branch|judicial]]. Each branch is separate and is set up to do [[Separation of powers#Checks and balances|checks and balances]] on each other branch.

=== Executive branch ===
The executive branch of the Lithuanian government consists of a president, a prime minister, and the president's Council of Ministers. It is in charge of running the government.

==== President ====
[[File:Presidential Palace in Vilnius 2019.jpg|thumb|[[Presidential Palace, Vilnius|Presidential Palace of the Republic of Lithuania]] in [[Daukanto Square]]]]
The [[president of Lithuania]] is the [[head of state]] of the country, [[direct election|elected directly]] for a five-year term and can serve maximum of two terms consecutively. Presidential elections take place in a modified version of the [[two-round system]]. If half of voters participate, a candidate must win a majority of the total valid vote in order to win election in the first round. If fewer than half of voters participate, a candidate can win outright with a plurality and at least one third of the total vote. If the first round does not produce a president, a runoff is held between the top two finishers in the first round, with a plurality sufficient to win.

The president, with the approval of the [[Seimas]], is first responsible of appointing the [[Prime Minister of Lithuania|prime minister]]. Upon the prime minister's nomination, the president also appoints, under the recommendation of the prime minister, the [[cabinet (government)|Council of Ministers]] (13 [[Ministry (government department)|ministries]]), as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts. The president also serves as the [[commander-in-chief]], oversees foreign and security policy, addresses political problems of foreign and domestic affairs, proclaims states of emergency, considers the laws adopted by the Seimas, and performs other duties specified in the Constitution.<ref name="Lithuania">[http://neris.mii.lt/homepage/liet1-1.html Lithuanian Home Page<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901021742/http://neris.mii.lt/homepage/liet1-1.html |date=1 September 2006 }}</ref> Lithuanian presidents have somewhat greater power than their counterparts in Estonia and Latvia, but have more influence in foreign policy than domestic policy.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Constitutions and institutional design in the Baltic States - Part I | url=https://www.tlu.ee/opmat/ri/rit6006/institutionaldesign/5_1slaid.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115013515/https://www.tlu.ee/opmat/ri/rit6006/institutionaldesign/5_1slaid.pdf | archive-date=2020-01-15}}</ref>

Former president [[Rolandas Paksas]], who had defeated Adamkus in [[Lithuanian presidential election, 2002–2003|2003]], was [[Impeachment|impeached]] in April 2004 for leaking classified information.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1163697/lithuania-s-impeached-president-paksas-acquitted-of-influence-peddling|title = Lithuania's impeached president Paksas acquitted of influence peddling|date = 15 April 2020}}</ref>

[[Dalia Grybauskaitė]], the first female president, served as the president of Lithuania since July 2009 until 2019, winning a [[2014 Lithuanian presidential election|reelection bid in 2014]]. Grybauskaitė succeeded [[Valdas Adamkus]] who had served a total of two non-consecutive terms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/europe/lithuania-president-re-elected-anti-russian-platform|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417181213/https://www.voanews.com/europe/lithuania-president-re-elected-anti-russian-platform|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2021|title = Lithuania President Re-elected on Anti-Russian Platform}}</ref>

In 2019, [[Gitanas Nauseda]] won Lithuania's presidential runoff [[2019 Lithuanian presidential election|election]] after his opponent [[Ingrida Šimonytė]] conceded.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lithuania-election-idUSKCN1SW0TU|title = Lithuania's Nauseda wins presidential election|newspaper = Reuters|date = 26 May 2019|last1 = Sytas|first1 = Andrius}}</ref>

==== Prime minister ====
[[File:Government of Lithuania building 2019.jpg|thumb|[[Government of Lithuania]] building]]
The [[prime minister of Lithuania]] is the [[head of government]] of the country, appointed by the president and approved by the Seimas. The prime minister, within 15 days of being appointed, is responsible for choosing ministers for the president to approve to each of the 13 ministries. In general, the prime minister is in charge of the affairs of the country, maintains homeland security, carries out laws and resolutions of the Seimas and decrees of the president, maintains diplomatic relations with foreign countries and international organizations, and performs other duties specified in the Constitution.<ref name="Lithuania" /> In practice, the prime minister is mostly responsible for domestic policy, while the president mostly handles foreign policy.

==== Council of Ministers ====
Similar to the [[cabinet (government)|cabinet]] of other nations, the Council of Ministers consists of 13 ministers chosen by the prime minister and appointed by the president. Each minister is responsible for his or her own ministry of the Lithuanian government and must give reports on his or her ministry when directed to.<ref name="Government">[http://www.lrvk.lt/main_en.php?cat=3&d=4002 Lithuania in the European Union – Coordination of European Union Affairs in Lithuania<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> When the prime minister resigns or dies, the position is to be filled as soon as possible and the new leader will appoint a new government.

==== Current office holders ====
{{office-table}}
|[[List of Lithuanian rulers|President]]
|[[Gitanas Nausėda]]
|[[Independent politician|Independent]]
|12 July 2019
|-
|[[Prime Minister of Lithuania|Prime Minister]]
|[[Gintautas Paluckas]]
|[[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania]]
|12 December 2024
|}

=== Legislative branch ===
[[File:Vilnius Seimas.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Seimas Palace]] in [[Vilnius]]]]
The parliament ([[Seimas]]) has 141 members that are elected for a 4-year term. About half of the members are elected in [[plurality voting system|single-member districts]] (71), and the other half (70) are elected in the nationwide vote using [[proportional representation]] by party lists. A party [[Electoral threshold|must receive at least 5% of the national vote]] to be represented in the Seimas.

=== Political parties and elections ===
{{elect|List of political parties in Lithuania|Elections in Lithuania}}

====2019 presidential election====
{{Main|2019 Lithuanian presidential election}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
!rowspan=2|Candidate
!rowspan=2|Party
!colspan=2|First round
!colspan=2|Second round
|-
!Votes
!%
!Votes
!%
|-
|align=left|[[Ingrida Šimonytė]]||align=left|Independent||'''442,353'''||'''31.43'''||437,399||33.28
|-
|align=left|[[Gitanas Nausėda]]||align=left|Independent||438,469||31.16||'''876,749'''||'''66.72'''
|-
|align=left|[[Saulius Skvernelis]]||align=left|Independent||278,680||19.80||colspan=2 rowspan=7|
|-
|align=left|[[Vytenis Andriukaitis]]||align=left|[[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania]]||67,802||4.82
|-
|align=left|[[Arvydas Juozaitis]]||align=left|Independent||66,535||4.73
|-
|align=left|[[Valdemar Tomaševski]]||align=left|[[Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance|Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania]]||56,411||4.01
|-
|align=left|[[Mindaugas Puidokas]]||align=left|Independent||36,645||2.60
|-
|align=left|[[Naglis Puteikis]]||align=left|[[Lithuanian Centre Party]]||11,214||0.80
|-
|align=left|[[Valentinas Mazuronis]]||align=left|Independent||9,169||0.65
|-
|colspan=2 align=left|Invalid/blank votes||9,905||–||17,097||–
|-
|colspan=2 align=left|'''Total'''||'''1,417,183'''||'''100'''||'''1,314,148'''||'''100'''
|-
|colspan=2 align=left|Registered voters/turnout||2,486,915||56.99||2,491,021||53.44
|-
|colspan=6 align=left|Source: [https://www.vrk.lt/en/2019-prezidento/rezultatai?srcUrl=/rinkimai/904/1/1546/rezultatai/lt/rezultataiPreRezultatai.html VRK], [https://www.vrk.lt/en/2019-prezidento/rezultatai?srcUrl=/rinkimai/904/2/1544/rezultatai/en/rezultataiPreLietuvoje.html VRK]
|}

====2020 parliamentary election====
{{Main|2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election}}
{{#section-h:2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election|Results}}

====2019 European election====
{{Main|2019 European Parliament election in Lithuania}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
|-
!colspan=2 | Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
|bgcolor="#2F6CD1"|
|[[Homeland Union]]
|align=right|245,918
|align=right|18.60
|align=right|3
|-
|bgcolor="red"|
|[[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania]]
|align=right|199,217
|align=right|17.26
|align=right|2
|-
|bgcolor="green"|
|[[Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union]]
|align=right|157,604
|align=right|11.92
|align=right|2
|-
|bgcolor="blue"|
|[[Labour Party (Lithuania)|Labour Party]]
|align=right|112,964
|align=right|8.54
|align=right|1
|-
|bgcolor="orange"|
|[[Liberal Movement (Lithuania)|Liberal Movement]]
|align=right|81,916
|align=right|6.20
|align=right|1
|-
|bgcolor="black"|
|Public election committee "[[Aušra Maldeikienė]]'s Train"
|align=right|80,703
|align=right|6.10
|align=right|1
|-
|bgcolor="#FF7462"|
|"[[Waldemar Tomaszewski]] Block" - Coalition of [[Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance|Christian Families Alliance]] and [[Lithuanian Russian Union]]
|align=right|69,263
|align=right|5.24
|align=right|1
|-
|bgcolor="#74DF00"|
|[[Lithuanian Centre Party]]
|align=right|64,091
|align=right|4.85
|align=right|0
|-
|bgcolor="yellow"|
|Public election committee "President [[Rolandas Paksas]]' Movement"
|align=right|50,130
|align=right|3.79
|align=right|0
|-
|bgcolor="purple"|
|Public election committee "[[Vytautas Radžvilas]]: Recover the State!"
|align=right|41,860
|align=right|3.17
|align=right|0
|-
|bgcolor="yellow"|
|[[Order and Justice]]
|align=right|34,298
|align=right|2.59
|align=right|0
|-
|bgcolor="red"|
|[[Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania]]
|align=right|29,592
|align=right|2.24
|align=right|0
|-
|bgcolor="green"|
|[[Lithuanian Green Party]]
|align=right|28,126
|align=right|2.13
|align=right|0
|-
|bgcolor="#F7B329"|
|[[Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals)]]
|align=right|23,829
|align=right|1.80
|align=right|0
|-
|bgcolor="#2A2D9C"|
|Public election committee "Strong Lithuania in United Europe"
|align=right|16,671
|align=right|1.26
|align=right|0
|-
|bgcolor="blue"|
|Public election committee "Decisive Leap"
|align=right|16,671
|align=right|1.07
|align=right|0
|-
|colspan=2|'''Total''' 
|align=right|'''1,250,377''' 
|align=right|'''100.00''' 
|align=right|'''11''' 
|}

=== Judicial branch ===
The judges of the [[Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania]] (''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas'') for a single nine-year term are appointed by the [[Seimas]] from the candidates presented by the President (three judges), Chairman of Seimas (three judges) and the chairman of the Supreme Court (three judges).