# Eighth Seimas

The Eighth Seimas of Lithuania was a parliament (Seimas) elected in Lithuania. Elections took place on 8 October 2000. The Seimas commenced its work on 19 October 2000 and served a four-year term, with the last session on 11 November 2004.

## Elections

In the elections in 2000, 70 members of the parliament were elected on proportional party lists and 71 in single member constituencies. Elections took place on 8 October 2000. No run-off was held in single seat constituencies and the candidate with the most votes was declared a winner.
Liberal Union became the largest party in the parliament after winning 34 seats, followed by 29 seats won by New Union (Social Liberals). The Social-Democratic Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas won 51 seats, with the largest party in the coalition, Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, winning 26.
| Party | Party | Abbr. | Proportional | Proportional | Proportional | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Total seats |
| Party | Party | Abbr. | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats |
| Social-Democratic Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas | Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania | LDDP | 457,294 | 31.08 | 12 | 156,354 | 10.66 | 14 | 26 |
| Social-Democratic Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas | Social Democratic Party of Lithuania | LSDP | 457,294 | 31.08 | 12 | 120,672 | 8.23 | 7 | 19 |
| Social-Democratic Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas | Union of the Russians of Lithuania | | 457,294 | 31.08 | 3 | 4,446 | 0.3 | 0 | 3 |
| Social-Democratic Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas | New Democracy Party | ND | 457,294 | 31.08 | 1 | 12,454 | 0.85 | 2 | 3 |
| New Union (Social Liberals) | New Union (Social Liberals) | NS | 288,895 | 19.64 | 18 | 225,878 | 15.41 | 11 | 29 |
| Liberal Union of Lithuania | Liberal Union of Lithuania | LLS | 253,823 | 17.25 | 16 | 229,438 | 15.65 | 18 | 34 |
| Homeland Union – Lithuanian Conservatives | Homeland Union – Lithuanian Conservatives | TSLK | 126,850 | 8.62 | 8 | 104,631 | 7.14 | 1 | 9 |
| Christian Democratic Union | Christian Democratic Union | LKDS | 61,583 | 4.19 | 0 | 33,221 | 2.27 | 1 | 1 |
| Lithuanian Peasants Party | Lithuanian Peasants Party | LVP | 60,040 | 4.08 | 0 | 96,853 | 6.61 | 4 | 4 |
| Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party | Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party | LKDP | 45,227 | 3.07 | 0 | 69,827 | 4.76 | 2 | 2 |
| Lithuanian Centre Union | Lithuanian Centre Union | LCS | 42,030 | 2.86 | 0 | 89,837 | 6.13 | 2 | 2 |
| Union of Moderate Conservatives | Union of Moderate Conservatives | NKS | 29,615 | 2.01 | 0 | 42,116 | 2.87 | 1 | 1 |
| Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania | Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania | LLRA | 28,641 | 1.95 | 0 | 40,376 | 2.75 | 2 | 2 |
| Lithuanian People's Union "For Just Lithuania" | Lithuanian People's Union "For Just Lithuania" | | 21,583 | 1.47 | 0 | 5,323 | 0.36 | 0 | 0 |
| Lithuanian Liberty Union | Lithuanian Liberty Union | LLS | 18,622 | 1.27 | 0 | 23,202 | 1.58 | 1 | 1 |
| Union of Young Lithuania, New Nationalists and Political Prisoners | Union of Young Lithuania, New Nationalists and Political Prisoners | JL | 16,941 | 1.15 | 0 | 16,729 | 1.14 | 1 | 1 |
| Lithuanian Nationalist Union | Lithuanian Nationalists Union | | 12,884 | 0.88 | 0 | 5,567 | 0.38 | 0 | 0 |
| Lithuanian Nationalist Union | Lithuanian Liberty League | | 12,884 | 0.88 | 0 | 4,685 | 0.32 | 0 | 0 |
| Lithuanian Party "Social Democracy – 2000" | Lithuanian Party "Social Democracy – 2000" | | 7,219 | 0.49 | 0 | 32,336 | 2.21 | 0 | 0 |
| Modern Christian-Democratic Union | Modern Christian-Democratic Union | MKDS | – | – | – | 17,929 | 1.22 | 1 | 1 |
| Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees | Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees | | – | – | – | 8,495 | 0.58 | 0 | 0 |
| Homeland People's Party | Homeland People's Party | | – | – | – | 7,038 | 0.48 | 0 | 0 |
| National Democratic Party of Lithuania | National Democratic Party of Lithuania | | – | – | – | 5,082 | 0.35 | 0 | 0 |
| Lithuanian Democratic Party | Lithuanian Democratic Party | | – | – | – | 3,323 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 |
| Lithuanian Socialist Party | Lithuanian Socialist Party | | – | – | – | 1,701 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican Party | Republican Party | | – | – | – | 1,380 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 |
| Lithuanian Justice Party | Lithuanian Justice Party | | – | – | – | 515 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | Independents | | – | – | – | 106,806 | 7.28 | 3 | 3 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 68,496 | – | – | 73,517 | – | – | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,539,743 | 100 | 70 | 1,539,743 | 100 | 71 | 141 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,626,321 | 58.63 | – | 2,626,321 | 58.63 | – | – |
| Source: University of Essex ||||||||||
$^a$ Two Modern Christian-Democratic Union candidates were elected in the proportional vote, having run on the lists of the New Union (Social Liberals) and the Liberal Union of Lithuania.

## Activities

Artūras Paulauskas was elected as the Speaker of the Eighth Seimas. After the impeachment of Rolandas Paksas, Paulauskas acted as the President of Lithuania from 6 April 2004 until 12 July 2004. Česlovas Juršėnas acted as the Speaker of the Seimas during the time.
The Eighth Seimas saw an initial ruling coalition of Liberals and New Union (Social Liberals), which lasted less than a year. By July 2001, New Union (Social Liberals) joined the Social Democratic Coalition, headed by Algirdas Brazauskas. Under the term of the Seimas, Lithuania joined the European Union and NATO. It continued privatizations of energy enterprises (e. g. Lietuvos dujos and Lietuvos energija). Also this Seimas oversaw the impeachment of President of Republic Rolandas Paksas.

## Composition
### Parliamentary groups

During the first session of the Seimas the following parliamentary groups were registered: Social Democratic Coalition, Liberals, New Union (Social Liberals), Homeland Union - Conservatives, Peasant and New Democracy Parties and the Mixed Group of Members of the Seimas.
At the beginning of the session, a quota (7 members) for parliamentary group formation has been introduced. This change came after experience with previous Seimas, in which parliamentary group might have been as small as 2 members.
Substantial shifts between parliamentary groups occurred during the term. In 2001, numerous members of the Liberals parliamentary group either joined Independent parliamentary group (in 2002 it renamed itself to the Liberal Democratic parliamentary group) or Homeland Union - Conservatives parliamentary group. In 2003, this parliamentary group was joined by the several members from Mixed Group and formed Liberal and Center parliamentary group.
Similar process happened in New Union (Social Liberals) parliamentary group between 2002 and 2004, when numerous members moved to the Social Democratic Coalition or Liberal Democratic parliamentary group. By the end of the term of the Seimas, the following parliamentary groups were active.
Members :
| Social Democratic Coalition | SDK | 53 |
| Liberal and Center | LiCF | 21 |
| New Union (Social Liberals) | NSF | 19 |
| Liberal Democrats | LDF | 15 |
| Homeland Union - Conservatives | TSKF | 10 |
| Peasants and New Democracy | VNDPF | 7 |
| Others | MSNG | 8 |
| Vacant | | 7 |

### Members

A total of 151 members served on the Eighth Seimas.
| Name, Surname | Constituency | Electoral list | Parliamentary group | Notes |
| Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | From 17 August 2004 |
| Vytenis Andriukaitis | 4. Žirmūnų | LSDP | SDKF | Until 24 July 2004 |
| Audronius Ažubalis | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | From 23 June 2004 until 28 June 2004 |
| Ona Babonienė | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Gintautas Babravičius | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Zigmantas Balčytis | 33. Šilalės – Šilutės | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Dailis Alfonsas Barakauskas | 23. Aušros | LLS | LF NF (from 12 January 2002) LDF (from 1 July 2002) | |
| Vydas Baravykas | 69. Dzūkijos | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Mindaugas Bastys | 64. Šakių | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Antanas Baura | 49. Anykščių – Kupiškio | LVP | VNDPF | |
| Juozas Bernatonis | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Kazys Bobelis | 29. Marijampolės | LKDS | MSNG VNDPF (from 5 July 2004) | |
| Bronius Bradauskas | 59. Kaišiadorių – Elektrėnų | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Jonas Budrevičius | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Sigita Burbienė | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Stanislovas Buškevičius | 15. Kalniečių | JL | MSNG | |
| Algirdas Butkevičius | 68. Vilkaviškio | LSDP | SDKF | |
| Jonas Čekuolis | Nationwide | LLS | LF | |
| Jonas Čiulevičius | Nationwide | NS | MSNG | |
| Gediminas Dalinkevičius | Nationwide | NS | NSF SDKF (from 21 January 2003) | |
| Irena Degutienė | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | |
| Gintaras Didžiokas | Nationwide | SDK | VNDPF | Until 22 June 2004 |
| Sergejus Dmitrijevas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Vytautas Einoris | 46. Pakruojo – Joniškio | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Vasilij Fiodorov | 10. Naujosios Vilnios | NS | NSF MSNG (from 5 July 2004) | |
| Kęstutis Glaveckas | 16. Dainavos | Independent | JF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Petras Gražulis | 31. Gargždų | LKDP | MSNG | |
| Valentinas Greičiūnas | 19. Danės | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Algirdas Gricius | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Algimantas Valentinas Indriūnas | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Gediminas Jakavonis | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Povilas Jakučionis | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | |
| Jonas Jučas | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Rasa Juknevičienė | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | |
| Jūratė Juozaitienė | 18. Panemunės | LLS | LF SDKF (from 12 March 2002) | |
| Jonas Jurkus | 38. Mažeikių | LSDP | SDKF | |
| Česlovas Juršėnas | 53. Ignalinos – Švenčionių | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Vytautas Juškus | Nationwide | SDK | - | 2 June 2004 |
| Edvardas Kaniava | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Ramūnas Karbauskis | 45. Šiaulių kaimiškoji | LVP | VNDPF | |
| Vaclovas Karbauskis | 34. Tauragės | NS | NSF | |
| Edvardas Karečka | 37.Skuodo – Mažeikių | LVP | VNDPF SDKF (from 27 May 2003) | |
| Justinas Karosas | 71. Lazdijų – Druskininkų | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Algis Kašėta | 70. Varėnos – Eišiškių | MKDS | JF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Gediminas Kirkilas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Dobilas Jonas Kirvelis | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | From 3 July 2004 |
| Audrius Klišonis | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Egidijus Klumbys | Nationwide | NS | MSNG | |
| Gintautas Kniukšta | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Jonas Korenka | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Jeronimas Kraujelis | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Kęstutis Kriščiūnas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Stasys Kružinauskas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Andrius Kubilius | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | |
| Algirdas Kunčinas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Dalia Kutraitė-Giedraitienė | 2. Senamiesčio | LLS | LF NF (from 12 January 2002) LDF (from 1 July 2002) | Until 25 February 2003 |
| Kęstutis Kuzmickas | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Vytautas Kvietkauskas | 1. Naujamiesčio | NS | NSF | Until 27 July 2004 |
| Vytautas Landsbergis | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | Until 22 June 2004 |
| Saulius Lapėnas | 62. Jurbarko | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Vytautas Lapėnas | Nationwide | LLS | LF LDF (from 1 July 2002) | |
| Jonas Lionginas | 8. Karoliniškių | LLS | LF LDF (from 1 July 2002) | |
| Arminas Lydeka | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Alfonsas Macaitis | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Zenonas Mačernius | 41. Kelmės | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Eugenijus Maldeikis | Nationwide | LLS | LF LDF (from 1 July 2002) | |
| Virginijus Martišauskas | 32. Šilutės – Pagėgių | LCS | JF | Until 10 October 2004 |
| Eligijus Masiulis | 21. Marių | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Kęstutis Masiulis | Nationwide | TSLK | - | From 28 July 2004 until 16 August 2004 |
| Algimantas Matulevičius | 51. Utenos | LLS | LF LDF (from 8 April 2003) | |
| Juozas Matulevičius | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Vitas Matuzas | 26. Nevėžio | TSLK | TSLK | Until 12 March 2003 |
| Alvydas Medalinskas | 6. Šeškinės | LLS | LF | Until 25 February 2003 |
| Nikolaj Medvedev | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Artūras Melianas | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Gintautas Mikolaitis | 42. Raseinių | LSDP | SDKF | |
| Dangutė Mikutienė | 58. Trakų – Elektrėnų | NS | NSF | |
| Gabriel Jan Mincevič | 55. Širvintų – Vilniaus | LLRA | MSNG LDF (from 18 March 2003) | |
| Algirdas Monkevičius | 39. Akmenės – Joniškio | NS | NSF | |
| Janė Narvilienė | 36. Kretingos | ND | VNDPF SDKF (from 27 May 2003) | |
| Saulius Nefas | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | From 29 June 2004 |
| Visvaldas Nekrašas | 35. Plungės – Rietavo | LSDP | SDKF | |
| Juozas Olekas | 63. Suvalkijos | LSDP | SDKF | |
| Vladimiras Orechovas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Rolandas Paksas | 3. Antakalnio | LLS | LF LDF (from 1 July 2002) | Until 15 February 2003 |
| Raimundas Palaitis | 22. Pajūrio | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Juozas Palionis | 67. Prienų | NS | NSF SDKF (from 22 March 2004) | |
| Petras Papovas | 52. Zarasų – Visagino | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Artūras Paulauskas | 24. Saulės | NS | NSF | |
| Rolandas Pavilionis | Nationwide | NS | NSF | Until 1 July 2004 |
| Artur Plokšto | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Aleksander Poplavski | 57. Vilniaus – Trakų | NS | NSF LF (from 26 September 2001) LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Vasilijus Popovas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Mykolas Pronckus | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Kazimira Prunskienė | 54. Molėtų – Švenčionių | ND | VNDPF | |
| Alfonsas Pulokas | 47. Pasvalio – Panevėžio | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Giedrė Purvaneckienė | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Juozas Raistenskis | 7. Justiniškių | LLS | LF SDKF (from 12 January 2002) | Check |
| Alvydas Ramanauskas | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Jurgis Razma | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | |
| Algis Rimas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Klemensas Rimšelis | 13. Centro | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Viktoras Rinkevičius | 48. Biržų – Kupiškio | LVP | VNDPF | |
| Rimantas Ruzas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | Until 14 October 2002 |
| Julius Sabatauskas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Alvydas Sadeckas | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Aloyzas Sakalas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | Until 1 July 2004 |
| Algimantas Salamakinas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Algirdas Saudargas | 12. Aleksoto – Vilijampolės | LKDP | MSNG | |
| Vytautas Saulis | 50. Rokiškio | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Eimundas Savickas | 17. Pramonės | LLS | LF LDF (from 26 March 2003) | |
| Romanas Algimantas Sedlickas | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Valerijus Simulik | 25. Dainų | NS | NSF | |
| Rimantas Sinkevičius | 60. Jonavos | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Algirdas Sysas | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Kęstutis Skamarakas | Nationwide | NS | NSF LDF (from 16 March 2004) | |
| Egidijus Skarbalius | 20. Baltijos | LLS | LF LDF (from 1 July 2002) | |
| Artūras Skardžius | 30. Alytaus | NS | NSF | |
| Vaclov Stankevič | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Antanas Napoleonas Stasiškis | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | |
| Nijolė Steiblienė | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Gintaras Steponavičius | 9. Lazdynų | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Ilona Stulpinienė | Nationwide | NS | NSF | From 2 July 2004 |
| Eduardas Šablinskas | Nationwide | NS | JF | |
| Irena Šiaulienė | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Gintaras Šileikis | 27. Vakarinė | LCS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Gintautas Šivickas | 65. Kauno – Kėdainių | NS | NSF | |
| Gražina Šmigelskienė | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | From 23 June 2004 |
| Raimondas Šukys | 5. Fabijoniškių | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Vytautas Šustauskas | 11. Šilainių | LS | MSNG | |
| Dalia Teišerskytė | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | |
| Valdemar Tomaševski | 56. Vilniaus – Šalčininkų | LLRA | MSNG LDF (from 29 April 2003) | |
| Valerij Tretjakov | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Viktor Uspaskich | 43. Kėdainių | Independent | MSNG | |
| Jurgis Utovka | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Gediminas Vagnorius | 40. Telšių | NKS | MSNG | |
| Rimas Valčiukas | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Antanas Valys | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | From 15 October 2002 |
| Egidijus Vareikis | Nationwide | NS | NSF | |
| Rimvydas Vaštakas | Nationwide | LLS | LF LiCF (from 5 June 2003) | Until 31 October 2003 |
| Artūras Vazbys | Nationwide | LLS | JF TSLK (from 13 March 2003) | |
| Domininkas Velička | Nationwide | LLS | LF NSF (from 11 November 2003) | |
| Virmantas Velikonis | 28. Aukštaitijos | LDDP | SDKF | |
| Birutė Vėsaitė | Nationwide | SDK | SDKF | |
| Julius Veselka | 61. Ukmergės | Independent | MSNG VNDPF (from 29 April 2003) | |
| Arvydas Vidžiūnas | Nationwide | TSLK | TSLK | Until 27 July 2004 |
| Pranas Vilkas | Nationwide | LLS | LF LDF (from 12 March 2003) | |
| Vytautas Zabiela | Nationwide | LLS | VNDPF | From 1 November 2003 |
| Roma Žakaitienė | 44. Radviliškio | LSDP | SDKF | |
| Vladas Žalnerauskas | 66. Kauno kaimiškoji | LLS | LF LDF (from 1 July 2002) | |
| Henrikas Žukauskas | 14. Žaliakalnio | LLS | LF LDF (from 1 July 2002) | |