New Union (Social Liberals)
The previous parliamentary elections were held on 8 October 2000. The Liberal Union of Lithuania emerged as the largest party in the parliament, with 34 of the 141 seats in the Eighth Seimas, followed by New Union (Social Liberals) with 29. The two parties formed a coalition government, with Rolandas Paksas of the Liberal Union as Prime Minister and Artūras Paulauskas of the New Union as Speaker.