The 13th Seimas had to take on some of the challenges arising for the first time in the history of the state. For the first time after the re-establishment of Lithuania’s independence, a state of emergency was declared in part of the territory of the country due to the threat posed by a mass influx of foreigners. In addition, at the beginning of the legislative period, the Seimas had to work by convening at its first-ever remote sittings.
Since its inaugural sitting on 13 November 2020, the Seimas held 111 sittings and adopted 644 legal acts, including 415 laws.
The adopted laws were aimed at mitigating the negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for both businesses and employees, growing the incomes for workers, pensioners and families, improving services provided to the population, and increasing the social security for socially vulnerable groups.
Last year stood out in terms of the focus on Lithuania’s Green Deal, with climate change and environmental matters high on the Seimas agenda. Efforts went into improving animal welfare, strengthening of energy security, and addressing education matters.
The Seimas appointed Danutė Jočienė as President of the Constitutional Court, thus making her the first woman in Lithuania’s history to hold this important position. The Seimas started working on the three constitutional amendments currently pending only the final vote, namely, lowering of the age limit for candidates to the Seimas, direct elections of mayors, and lifting of a permanent ban on holding office after the enforcement of a constitutional sanction.
Changes in the composition of the Seimas
Over the past year, some changes took place in the composition of the Seimas. Ramūnas Karbauskis and Antanas Guoga waived theirs mandates of Members of the Seimas, and Kęstutis Glaveckas, Member of the Seimas and Signatory to the Act of Independence, passed away. They were replaced by Asta Kubilienė, Artūras Skardžius and Edita Rudelienė subsequent to oaths of allegiance.
The configuration of political groups at the Seimas also underwent slight changes, namely, the Political Group of Democrats ‘For Lithuania’ and the Lithuanian Regions Political Group were established in addition to the political groups set up at the beginning of the legislative period. No Members of the Seimas were left in the Non-Associated Members Group.
Throughout the year, the composition of the ruling majority remained the same, comprising the political groups of the Freedom Party, Liberals Movement, and the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats.
Foreign guests
During the first year of its legislative period, the Seimas received a number of foreign guests holding high and important positions. The visits were made by David Maria Sassoli, President of the European Parliament; Crown Princess Mary of Denmark; Marija Pejcinović-Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe; Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia; Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine; and Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland (who visited Lithuania both at the start of his term of office and last month); as well as by parliamentary and government leaders, ministers, and parliamentary delegations from other countries. Of course, the arrival of foreign guests was impeded by the pandemic and quite a few meetings took place by remote means.
Thoughts of the members of the Board of the Seimas about the first year of work of the 13th Seimas
Four members of the Board of the Seimas from both the ruling majority and the opposition gave their assessments of the first year of work of the 13th Seimas. They answered the questions about the performance of the Seimas in dealing with the challenges facing the state, the most welcome and, conversely, most disappointing parliamentary decisions, as well as the most important tasks for the coming second year of the legislative term. Please find the answers below.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas
Despite the two crises, the coalition made rational decisions creating opportunities for active people, while the stable economic situation allowed for the implementation of socially responsible initiatives. The framework was put in place for income growth. As liberals, we place a premium on a slightly relaxed tax environment for the employed; I mean an increase in non-taxable income. My belief is that, in the current context, the principal duty is to do our utmost to contain the pandemic as effectively as possible, defend ourselves against threats coming from Belarus, and achieve the goals set out in the Coalition Agreement. I am convinced that the Seimas also passed a very important test of unity when, a few days ago, we unanimously voted on a state of emergency by putting political parties’ ambitions and disagreements aside. This was welcomed by our neighbour Poland citing us as an example of the ability to come together as one.
One of the most important moves was the signing of the Accord on Education and an ensuing greater focus on culture as a result of the efforts made by the Liberals Movement. These are important steps towards our common future. Significant decisions were also made on the implementation of the Green Deal. I am convinced that the Green Deal offers new prospects for Lithuania and its people.
I personally place importance on what is referred to as the family package, which will facilitate the return to the labour market for women and reconciliation of their career and family commitments. Initiatives to reduce restrictions and bans are also relevant. We have succeeded in implementing what I started off with during the previous legislative period. Namely, the Seimas has adopted the Law on Stalking and made progress on amending the Constitution with a view to allowing individuals to stand as parliamentary candidates from 21 years of age.
The Seimas also approved the nominations to the Constitutional Court. The first year of activities has certainly been very productive, even in the face of the earlier-mentioned crises.
What are the most significant tasks that I see for the second year of the Seimas? They surely include a balanced budget, a constitutional amendment on direct elections of mayors, and adoption of the Law on Referendum. We would like this Seimas to step up the implementation of legislative initiatives on human and civil rights, such as the Law on Personal Names and the Partnership Law, undertake effective reforms in respect of the civil service and the judiciary, bring forward the Green Deal, and generally adopt the necessary and correct decisions to improve the business environment, strengthen self-government, and increase transparency in the public sector. I will strive to extend the family package and, along with the Liberals Movement, undertake the initiatives aimed at deregulation and cutting down on red tape. The first moves in this direction have already been made.
Jonas Jarutis, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas
The first year of the 13th Seimas was full of challenges: both global, which could hardly have been avoided and could only be mitigated; and domestic challenges, to the emergence of which a large part of the Seimas greatly contributed by trying to take decisions considered highly controversial by the citizens of Lithuania. Seen from the national perspective, this year was often similar to walking a step forward and a leap backward. Of course, the work of the Seimas largely depends on the quality of the work of the executive, namely, the Government. The latter, ultimately, has so far failed to work professionally, with only a small part of the ministers working at all, and with the rest of the ministers supporting the ideas which fall short of support acceptance to which is lacking even from experts of their respective ministries.
I would single out one gratifying solution, though. I am pleased that, on the most important matters of national security, we have nevertheless managed to find common ground with the political opponents, which often seemed impossible. I hope examples of this kind of consensus will spill over to other spheres of our public life as well.
I would also single out one of the most galling decisions. The most disappointing initiatives were directed against traditional family, national values, and the nation state. Equally worrying are the prospects for decriminalisation and legalisation of drugs and the desire to liberalise access to and facilitate availability of alcohol, thus opening the pathways for the addictions that will have an undeniable impact on the young generation and the future of our nation and state.
In the second year of the work of the current Seimas, we will still need to manage the pandemic and the irregular migration crisis. The best, effective, timely and appropriate decisions can only be made through engagement with and keeping an open mind to the hopes and fears of all Lithuanian citizens rather than merely listening to the arguments of the opposition in the Seimas.
Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas
During the parliamentary elections almost a year ago, the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats under Ingrida Šimonytė and Gabrielius Landsbergis gained the greatest public trust. However, I remember perfectly well how cautious the joy of all of us was regardless of the impressive victory. With 50 mandates in the Seimas, our electoral result stood next to the electoral outcomes in 1996. In the first months of our work, however, we had to handle the COVID-19 pandemic aggravated by a rapid increase in the number of infections and loss of many lives. In mid-summer, we had to return twice to the extraordinary sessions of the Seimas to address a new challenge: the migration crisis caused by Lukashenko’s dictatorship. Thus, at the very outset of this legislative term, we realised the importance of commitment and the high expectations that people had vested in us. We offer a strong core in the Seimas for the Government’s decisions, although sometimes opinions differ.
The exclusive attention of foreign states to Lithuania and references by foreign press to us as ‘the leaders of the free world’ stand proof to and appreciation of the fact that we are dealing with emerging crises perfectly. I am glad that, at difficult times, the Seimas can find unity and unanimously support decisions in crisis management. This is illustrated by the introduction, on Tuesday, of a state of emergency at the border with Belarus and accommodation centres for irregular migrants. I know that it lies in our common interest to ensure Lithuania’s safety. This can certainly be achieved in a Parliament without division through united action.
Our main efforts in the Seimas this year were focused on the Government’s Programme and smooth incorporation of the Seimas proposals into the Programme. In other words, we strove to lead responsibly in troubled waters. Starting with the first half-year of the current legislature, we rolled out the implementation of our electoral programme. We began with work on education, social matters and energy independence.
I wish to welcome the signing of the National Accord on Education. This agreement will help to find a broader consensus on solutions that will allow children to have equal opportunities to start out in life and develop regardless of their abilities or family situation, to eliminate the social exclusion programmed in young age, as well as to improve the working conditions of teachers.
In the second half-year of the current legislative period, we moved on to social matters. I would highlight the decisions taken on a single person allowance, personal assistant service for disabled people, and the above-indexation increase in pensions for seniors, especially those at the greatest risk of poverty. We also provided for raising the income of the least-earners, teachers, doctors, policemen and border guards.
Nothing is disappointing, as we are going into the future. We are looking forward to a lot of hard work and perhaps new challenges and need to be prepared to address them.
Support for our Government remains among our priorities. Of course, solutions to crises will still need to be found. As we said before the elections, we are in no hurry with legislation: we will strive for quality rather than urgency. There are plans for the reshuffle of the healthcare system and the public sector, but this is a long-term process that requires diligent work. The draft budget for 2022 is now in place, with a priority on national and public security, creating opportunities by investing in education and green and high value-added economy, as well as increasing incomes and reducing the risk of poverty. I will highlight that this budget is an opportunity-oriented and socially-oriented document that envisages rising pensions and wages for teachers, officials, cultural staff, nurses, and medical professionals. When drafting the budget, we also took security and other matters into account. The state deficit is being gradually reduced and the national debt is being stabilised.
During the second year of our legislature, we will focus on strengthening the state. A strong public sector is crucial to counteract and manage various crises and have a strong state. Recent foreign policy developments show that Lithuania needs a strong diplomatic service that would help Lithuania’s interests to appear on the agendas of other countries. Therefore, the enhancement of the civil service and a more equitable diplomatic service are in store for us in future.
Next year will see the rollout of the national plan New Generation Lithuania. In the lead-up to that, the Seimas agenda will include many debates on the green agenda, digitalisation, education and social matters. We will strive to make a stronger stance on the green agenda: not only do we have to think about the present, but we also need to tackle climate problems today so that we can leave a cleaner environment for future generations.
I hope that the Seimas will be able to take determined decisions on changes to mitigate climate change in Lithuania in the coming six months. We will also seek to make decisions for a more sustainable, green and equitable future for Lithuania and remedy the problems that have been pointed out by the European Commission for decades. I hope for the Seimas next year to further raise the level of political culture and seek common solutions on future issues. This lies in the key interests of our state.
Julius Sabatauskas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas
I could call this year of the Seimas a real year of challenges. The State and the Seimas faced challenges that had never existed before. Admittedly, some gross mistakes have unfortunately been made in the legislative process. On the other hand, this difficult year has brought along both meaningful and timely innovations to the work of the Seimas, such as remote sittings, which I believe will not only allow for continuous work during the pandemic, but also ensure greater involvement in proposing, considering and adopting legislation in future.
I would like to draw your attention to more encouraging matters. One of them relates to the resolutions of the Seimas, which have finally achieved appointing three judges of the Constitutional Court. This closed the disgraceful chapter in the history of the Seimas. Unfortunately, instead of designing Lithuania’s future, most of the adopted legislative acts addressed the challenges created by the pandemic. Once again, we have witnessed a large number of registered drafts, which reasonably questions their meaning and value. Sometimes I get the impression that colleagues who seek better statistics tend to correct what is not defective or regulate what has already been regulated instead of offering and finding consensus on the most important matters of public life.
One of the most disappointing attempts was the attempt to allow riflemen own and carry category A weapons. I would wish the authors and supporters of this initiative to understand that the strength of a nation does not depend on how far an automatic weapon is from you. The case in point here may be Finland and Afghanistan, where much smaller forces backed by people who believe in their ideas managed to resist large and well-armed troops without falling apart. I think it would be great for Members of the Seimas to pay more attention to building a stronger link between society and the state through focusing on social and economic aspects.
I hope the Seimas will agree on and adopt the necessary legislation on direct elections of mayors in a timely manner. This is very important for people and for the effective functioning of self-government.
I would like to see the forthcoming adoption of the Electoral Code as one of the most significant future projects. I would like us never fear change in the working group and transform both ourselves and the matters we work on. I hope the amendments to the Code will be anything but symbolic, and bring about significant transformations leading to greater and more active public participation and involvement in the elections and the political process in general.