LITHUANIA
Parliamentary Chamber: Seimas

ELECTIONS HELD IN 1992

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Chamber:
  Seimas


Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):

  25 October 1992
15 November 1992


Purpose of elections:

  Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament following the premature dissolution of this body. General elections were previously held in February/March 1990, prior to Lithuania’s independence in September 1991.


Background and outcome of elections:

  The 1992 general elections – the first since independence in September 1991 – were held under the terms of the new Electoral Law adopted in July 1992, which provided for a mixed system and run-off elections in constituencies where the required majority was not attained. The election date had been set on 19 June.

Main challenger to the ruling Sajudis nationalist movement, led by outgoing President of the Republic Vytautas Landsbergis, was the (ex-communist) Democratic Labour Party (DLP) headed by Mr. Algirdas Brazauskas. Sajudis – which had controlled Parliament since February 1990 and spearheaded the move to independence – was criticized for the country’s economic woes, while the DLP called for a slowdown in the pace of change to a free-market system and improved relations with the Russian Federation. Altogether 24 parties and political movements contested the Seimas seats. Polling procedures were witnessed by international observers. As opposed to Estonia, for example, suffrage was granted to Lithuania’s ethnic Russian minority.

Final voting results (after the run-off round for 61 majority seats on 15 November) gave an unexpectedly large victory to the DLP, itself surprised by the decisive outcome. Analysts attributed this victory, among other things, to the party’s support by the Russian and Polish minorities, farmers, as well as to popular anger about the economic crisis, in particular the fuel shortage since Russia, the main supplier, had cut off imports.

On 1 December, Mr. Bronislavas Luybs was appointed Prime Minister. On 14 February 1993, Mr. Brazauskas was elected President of the Republic.

STATISTICS
Round no 1 : Elections results  
Number of registered electors 2,549,952
Voters 1,918,027 (75.2%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers 105,229
Valid votes 1,812,798

Round no 1: Distribution of votes  
Political Group Candidates Votes
Democratic Labour Party (DLP) 71 817,331
Sajudis (Movement) 96 393,500
Christian Democratic Party coalition 107 234,368
Social Democratic Party 70 112,410
Polish Union 25 39,772
National Union coalition n.a. n.a.
Center Movement n.a. n.a.
Others n.a. n.a.
Independents n.a. n.a.

Round no 1: Distribution of seats  
Political Group Total Proportional Majority
Democratic Labour Party (DLP) 73 36 37
Sajudis (Movement) 28 17 11
Christian Democratic Party coalition 18 10 8
Social Democratic Party 8 5 3
Polish Union 4 2 2
National Union coalition 3 0 3
Center Movement 2 0 2
Others 4 0 4
Independents 1 0 1

Distribution of seats according to sex:  
Men: 131
Women: 10


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Copyright © 1992 Inter-Parliamentary Union