page_title: Constitution of Lithuania
section_title: Parliament
hierarchical_section_title: Constitution of Lithuania / Modern constitution / Contents / Parliament
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Budynku sejmu w Wilnie przy placu Nepriklausomybės i prospekcie Giedymina. English: Seimas Palace (Lithuanian Parlamient seat), Vilnius, Lithuania. Français&#160;: Bâtiment du Seimas, ou parlement de la République de Lituanie. Vilnius, Lituanie. Deutsch: Der Seimas Palast, das Parlament der Republik Litauen in Vilnius.
context_page_description: The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on 25 October 1992.
context_section_description: The parliament of Lithuania is a unicameral legislature called the Seimas. The Seimas consists of 141 members, seventy elected from party lists on the basis of proportional representation and seventy-one from single-member districts. To be seated in the Seimas on the basis of proportional representation, a party must receive at least 5 per cent of the votes cast. The legislature is elected for four years. Candidates for the legislature must be at least twenty-five years old. Members of the Seimas may serve as prime ministers or Cabinet members, but they may not hold any other position in either central or local government or in private enterprises or organizations. The parliament must approve the prime minister and the cabinet, composed by the ministers — and also the prime minister, as well as their government programme. It also may force the government's resignation by rejecting twice in sequence its programme or by voting, in a secret ballot, to express its lack of confidence in the government.
  The powers of the legislature are checked by a number of devices: first, by certain constitutional limitations; second, by the president as defined under the constitution; and third, by the Constitutional Court. Articles 64, 131, and 132 of the constitution circumscribe the ability of the Seimas to control the Government, especially the budget. Article 64 specifies the times of parliamentary sessions. Although extension is possible, ordinarily the legislature cannot sit longer than seven months and three days, divided into two sessions. The budget submitted by the Government can be increased by the legislature only if the latter indicates the sources of financing for additional expenditures. If the budget is not approved before the start of the budget year, proposed expenditures cannot be higher than those of the previous year. Finally, the legislature is not entrusted with making decisions concerning the basic characteristics of Lithuanian statehood and democracy. These are left to the citizens by means of referendum. Similarly, the initiative for making laws is not limited to the legislature but also belongs to the citizens, who can force the legislature to consider a law by submitting a petition with 50,000 signatures.
caption: Seimas Palace
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