The Lithuanian parliament Seimas on Thursday amended the Constitution, authorising direct mayoral elections, lowering the minimum age for standing as a candidate to the parliament, and allowing an impeached person to run for office.
The constitutional amendment on mayoral elections was passed with 135 votes in favour, none against, and no abstentions. At least 94 votes in favour in the 141-seat parliament are required for the constitutional amendments to be adopted.
The amendment stipulates that the right to self-government is “exercised through the respective municipal councils and municipal mayors” and that mayors are elected for a four-year term on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage and by secret ballot.
Lithuania introduced direct mayoral elections in 2014, but the Constitution Court ruled a year ago that mayors cannot be elected by direct popular vote unless the Constitution is amended. Until now, the Constitution only provided for the direct election of municipal councils.
The parliament is yet to amend the Law on Local Self-Government to define new powers for mayors after the 2023 elections.
Lower age limit
The Seimas also lowered the minimum age for standing as a candidate in Lithuania’s parliamentary elections from 25 to 21 years.
The respective constitutional amendment was passed with 101 votes in favour, four against, and 22 abstentions.
The Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen initiated the constitutional amendment during the previous parliamentary term. She noted that the Lithuanian law allows people to run for the European Parliament once they turn 21.
According to Čmilytė-Nielsen, 25 years is the highest minimum age for parliament members in the EU, and, besides Lithuania, this age threshold is in place only in Italy, Greece, and Cyprus.
Impeached people
Moreover, the Lithuanian parliament on Thursday amended the Constitution to allow an impeached person to run for president or national parliament ten years after removal from office.
The amendment was passed in a vote of 134 to one.
Lithuania’s impeached former President Rolandas Paksas has been barred from running for president or national parliament since his impeachment back in 2004.
Lithuania had to amend the Constitution to implement the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling of 2011 that the lifetime ban on Paksas to stand for parliament was disproportionate and ran counter to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Earlier attempts to lift the ban fell through as the parliament failed to muster enough votes to pass the respective amendment.
This led to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, which monitors the execution of the Strasbourg court’s judgments, placing Lithuania under the so-called “enhanced supervision procedure”.
Paksas was impeached in April 2004 after the Lithuanian Constitutional Court ruled that he grossly violated the Constitution and his oath of office by granting Lithuanian citizenship to Yuri Borisov, the main financial supporter of his presidential election campaign.
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