On 18 October 2018, the Seimas adopted the Resolution on calling the mandatory referendum on amending Article 12 of the Constitution to specify the acquisition of citizenship. Pursuant to the Resolution, the mandatory referendum will take place on two days, namely on 12 and 26 May 2019.
The petition demands an explanation whether the organisation of a referendum on two separate days with an interval of two weeks is consistent with the constitutional concept of a referendum because the Constitution provides for the principle of non-interruption of the referendum meaning that the referendum may take place only on one day or two consecutive days. The petition notes that the provision allowing for holding a referendum on two separate days with a break in between may compromise the constitutional principle of equal treatment of people because voters on the second day of the referendum may have more information about the referendum as compared to voters on the first day.
The Resolution adopted by the Seimas on 18 October 2018 underlines that any doubts concerning the constitutionality of the referendum and consequently the legitimacy of the outcome of the referendum must be allayed before the referendum begins.
In the mandatory referendum called by the Seimas, the following amendment to Article 12 of the Constitution will be put to vote: “Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania shall be acquired by birth or on other grounds established by the Constitutional Law. The citizens of the Republic of Lithuania by origin shall retain their citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania when they acquire the citizenship of the state that meets the criteria of European and transatlantic integration pursued by of the Republic of Lithuania. In other cases, no one may be a citizen of both the Republic of Lithuania and another state at the same time, with the exception of individual cases provided for by the Constitutional Law. The procedure for the acquisition and loss of citizenship shall be established by the Constitutional Law.”
