Parliamentary elections were held in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

on 8 October 2000. All 141 seats in the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

were up for election, 71 of them in single-seat constituencies based on

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

; the remaining 70, in a nationwide constituency based on

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. Altogether, around 700 candidates competed in the single-seat constituencies, while over 1,100 candidates were included in the electoral lists for the nationwide constituency.Elections held in 2000
Inter-Parliamentary Union

Background

In 1996 Lithuanian parliamentary election the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Conservatives won 70 seats. They formed a coalition with second-place Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party. By 1998 Lithuania was hit Russian finansial crisis, which (along with the conflicts between ruling coalition, Prime Ministers

Gediminas Vagnorius Gediminas Vagnorius (born 10 June 1957) is a Lithuanian politician and signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania, heading the government between 1991 and 1992, and again f ...

and

Rolandas Paksas Rolandas Paksas (; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who was the sixth President of Lithuania from 2003 to 2004. He was previously Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001, and he also served as Mayor of Vilniu ...

and President of Republic

Valdas Adamkus Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; 3 November 1926) is a Lithuanian-American politician, diplomat and civil engineer. He served as the 5th and 7th President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009. Adamkus' ...

) caused two replacements of government. Economic turmoil caused decline of support of main parties (the Homeland Union and the

Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos demokratinė darbo partija, LDDP) was the renamed Communist Party of Lithuania. It was a political party in Lithuania in the 1990s, which claimed to be social-democratic. The youth organization ...

). The other parties that benefited from aforementioned parties were the

Liberal Union of Lithuania The Liberal Union of Lithuania () was a liberal political party in Lithuania. History The party was founded on the 25th of November, 1990 on a basis of the Vilnius University Liberal Club. Its first leader was Vilnius University philosophy pro ...

(especially after Paksas became its leader) and the

New Union (Social Liberals) The New Union (Social Liberals) ( lt, Naujoji sąjunga (socialliberalai), NS) was a Social liberalism, social-liberal list of political parties in Lithuania, political party in Lithuania. The NS was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democra ...

. In municipal elections of 2000, these two parties combined won 30.67 per cent of the vote, while the Homeland Union and the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania together won 17.74 per cent of the votes. As response to this situation, the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, the

Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organization in 1896, it is the oldest extant party i ...

and the New Democracy Party formed electoral coalition in July 2000 with

Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was the first President of Lithuania, President (fourth overall) of a newly re-independent post-Soviet states, post-Soviet Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister of Lithuania, Prime Ministe ...

as its candidate to the Prime Minister. The Homeland Union formed alliance with the Political Prisoners and Deportees Union of Lithuania.

Electoral system

The 141 members of the Seimas were elected by

parallel voting Parallel voting is a type of mixed electoral system in which representatives are voted into a single chamber using two or more different systems, most often first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) with party-list proportional representation (PR). It is ...

; 70 were elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, with 71 elected by

in single-member constituencies. Previously members from the single-member constituencies had been elected using the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

, but the electoral system was changed prior to the elections to scrap the second round and allow members to be elected by plurality. These changes had been introduced by the

Homeland Union The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats ( lt, Tėvynės sąjunga Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai, TS–LKD), also known colloquially simply as the Conservatives, is a centre-right political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 mem ...

and passed by the

on 19 July 2000. Although

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

vetoed the Act, the veto was overturned and the changes had been implemented.

Opinion polls

Results

Only four party and coalition lists passed five per cent threshold. The Social Democratic coalition of former President

Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was the first President (fourth overall) of a newly re-independent post-Soviet Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He also served as head of the Communist Party of Li ...

received the largest share of the popular vote in the nationwide constituency (31 per cent) and won the most seats in the Seimas (51 seats), but short of the 71 seats needed for the majority.

, led by

Artūras Paulauskas Artūras Paulauskas (born 23 August 1953 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian politician. He was the Speaker of Seimas, the parliament of Lithuania, from 2000 to 2006, and he served as List of Presidents of Lithuania, Acting President of Lithuania from 6 ...

, came second in the nationwide constituency (19.64 per cent), winning 29 seats in the parliament. The centre-right Liberal Union, led by the Mayor of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

and former Prime Minister

, became as the largest single party in the parliament, with 34 seats and 17.25 per cent of the vote in the nationwide constituency. The possible "New Politics" Coalition (consisting Liberal Union, New Union (Social Liberals), Lithuanian Centre Union and Modern Christian-Democratic Union) won 66 seats, but it too came short of absolute majority. The

, which had led the government for the previous four years, performed poorly in the elections, receiving only 8.62 per cent of the vote and winning eight seats, down from more than 30% of the vote and 70 seats in the previous elections. Prime Minister

Andrius Kubilius Andrius Kubilius (born 8 December 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Lithuania from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.LR Vyriausio ...

and many other prominent ministers were beaten in their constituencies. In the electoral campaign dominated by economic issues, the party was punished by voters for the economic recession and high unemployment, as well as its austerity policy. The Social Democratic coalition, on the other hand, had promised the end to austerity, including lower taxes and higher social spending. Two

Modern Christian-Democratic Union Modern Christian-Democratic Union, ( lt, Modernieji krikščionys demokratai) was a political party in Lithuania that existed between 1998 and 2003. In 2003 the party joined forces with the Liberal Union of Lithuania (''Lietuvos liberalų sąjung ...

candidates were elected in the nationwide constituency, having run on the lists of the

and the

. One

Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees The Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees ( lt, Lietuvos politinių kalinių ir tremtinių sąjunga, LPKTS) was a political party in Lithuania between 1990 and 2004. It represented interest of those repressed by the Soviet regime ...

candidate was elected in the nationwide constituency, having run on the list of the

. Candidates of

Lithuanian Democratic Party The Lithuanian Democratic Party ( lt, Lietuvių demokratų partija, LDP) was a political party in Lithuania The original party was established in 1902. It published newspapers ''Lietuvos ūkininkas'' (1905–1918) and ''Lietuvos žinios'' (1909� ...

ran on the list of the Union of Young Lithuania, New Nationalists and Political Prisoners.

Analysis

Social Democratic coalition won most votes in most of Lithuania.

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

and

were narrowly won by the Liberal Union of Lithuania, while New Union (Social Liberals) got the most votes in

Trakai Trakai (; see names section for alternative and historic names) is a historic town and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. T ...

Širvintos Širvintos () is a city in Vilnius County in the eastern part of Lithuania. It is the administrative center of the Širvintos district municipality. The word ''Širvintos'' is the plural form of the name of the Širvinta River, which flows thro ...

Varėna Varėna (; pl, Orany; yi, אוראַן ''Oran'') is a city in Dzūkija, Lithuania. History The town was founded in 1862 near the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway, south of Sena Varėna (Old Varėna). At that time it was a small settleme ...

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23, ...

and, to lesser extent,

districts. In these municipalities Liberal Union and New Union had their best performances in municipal elections of 2000.

Aftermath

After disastrous results leaders of the

Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party ( lt, Lietuvos krikščionių demokratų partija, LKDP) was a Christian-democratic political party in Lithuania. History Russian Empire and Republic of Lithuania A Christian Democratic movement was e ...

and the

Lithuanian Centre Union The Lithuanian Centre Union, or Centre Union of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos centro sąjunga, LCS), was a liberalism, liberal list of political parties in Lithuania, political party in Lithuania that existed between 1993 and 2003. History It was estab ...

Algirdas Saudargas Algirdas Saudargas (born April 17, 1948) is a Lithuanian politician and the signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He was the first foreign minister of post-Soviet Lithuania. He was foreign minister from March ...

and

Romualdas Ozolas Romualdas Ozolas ɔmʊˈɐɫdɐs ˈoːzɔɫɐs(31 January 1939 – 6 April 2015) was a Lithuanian politician, activist, writer and pedagogue who taught at Vilnius University.Laima Liucija Andrikienė proposed merger of all center-right parties. It would happen gradually from 2001 to 2008, when the

(which received their worst result ever in these elections) would merge with most them. Poor results also caused disintegration of the Lithuanian Centre Union, which would merge with the

in 2003.

Government formation

The Liberal Union, the New Union (Social Liberals), the Centre Union, the Modern Christian Democrats and the

Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

formed a coalition after the election (these parties combined and two MPs, who joined New Union's parliamentary group, had 68 members), with Rolandas Paksas appointed as the new Prime Minister and Artūras Paulauskas elected as the Speaker of the Seimas. The coalition was not long-lasting and collapsed in June 2001 amid disagreements over privatisation and other reforms.

References

External links

The Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Lithuania
{{Lithuanian elections

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Parliamentary election, 2000 October 2000 events in Europe