134-702: Opposition (55) The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( Lithuanian : Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas ), or simply the Seimas ( / ˈ s eɪ m ə s / SAY -məs ; Lithuanian: [ˈsɛɪˑmɐs] ), is the unicameral legislative body of the Republic of Lithuania . The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania , enacting laws and amendments to the Constitution , passing
268-503: A European power into a state of anarchy. Only a few Sejms were able to meet during the reign of the House of Saxony in Poland (1696–1763), the last one in 1736. Only 8 out of the 18 Sejm sessions during the reign of Augustus II (1697–1733) passed legislation. For a period of 30 years around the reign of Augustus III, only one session was able to pass legislation (1734–1763). The government
402-493: A Lithuanian peasant. — Antoine Meillet Among Indo-European languages, Lithuanian is conservative in its grammar and phonology, retaining archaic features otherwise found only in ancient languages such as Sanskrit (particularly its early form, Vedic Sanskrit ) or Ancient Greek . Thus, it is an important source for the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language despite its late attestation (with
536-652: A Proto-Balto-Slavic stage, from which the Baltic languages retain exclusive and non-exclusive lexical, morphological, phonological and accentual isoglosses in common with the Slavic languages , which represent their closest living Indo-European relatives. Moreover, with Lithuanian being so archaic in phonology, Slavic words can often be deduced from Lithuanian by regular sound laws ; for example, Lith. vilkas and Polish wilk ← PBSl. *wilkás (cf. PSl. *vьlkъ ) ← PIE *wĺ̥kʷos , all meaning " wolf ". Initially, Lithuanian
670-485: A broad land reform and introduced Litas as the national currency. The First Seimas of Lithuania was the first parliament of Lithuania elected in accordance with the constitution of 1922. The election took place on October 10–11, 1922. However, no party was able to form a sustainable coalition and the Seimas was dissolved on March 12, 1923. New elections were held on May 12 and May 13. The Second Seimas of Lithuania
804-456: A coalition government since 2016), National Resurrection Party (part of the ruling coalition between 2008 and 2011, when it merged into Liberal and Centre Union) and Liberal Movement (part of the ruling coalition between 2008 and 2012). The sittings of the Seimas are presided over by the Speaker of the Seimas or a Deputy Speaker. The first sitting of the Seimas after an election is opened by
938-408: A four-year term in parallel voting , with 71 members elected in single-seat constituencies and 70 members elected by proportional representation . Ordinary elections to the Seimas take place on the second Sunday of October, with the voting open for all citizens of Lithuania who are at least 18 years old. Members of Parliament in the 71 single-seat constituencies are elected in a majority vote, with
1072-434: A majority against the will of a minority (even if only one sejmik) was considered a violation of the principle of political equality. At first, the dissenting deputies were often convinced or cowed back to withdraw their objections. Also, at first, the rule was used to strike down only individual laws, not to dissolve the chamber and throw out all measures passed. For example, as historian Władysław Czapliński describes in
1206-590: A million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as a second language. Lithuanian is closely related to neighbouring Latvian , though the two languages are not mutually intelligible. It is written in a Latin script . In some respects, some linguists consider it to be the most conservative of the existing Indo-European languages , retaining features of the Proto-Indo-European language that had disappeared through development from other descendant languages . Anyone wishing to hear how Indo-Europeans spoke should come and listen to
1340-485: A minor party in the preceding parliament, won a sweeping victory, securing 54 seats in the Twelfth Seimas (eventually rising to 59 as they were joined by several independents). The Social Democrats lost a lot of their support and finished with 17 seats (they were joined in the Seimas by the two members of Labour Party), but remained as a junior partner in the ruling coalition with Peasants and Greens Union. By 2019,
1474-516: A result of a decrease in the usage of spoken Lithuanian in the eastern part of Lithuania proper, in the 19th century, it was suggested to create a standardized Lithuanian based on the Samogitian dialect. Nevertheless, it was not accomplished because everyone offered their Samogitian subdialects and the Eastern and Western Aukštaitians offered their Aukštaitian subdialects. In the second half of
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#17327767457531608-435: A run-off held within 15 days, if necessary. The remaining 70 seats are allocated to the participating political parties using the largest remainder method . Parties normally need to receive at least 5% (7% for multi-party electoral lists) of the votes to be eligible for a seat. Candidates take the seats allocated to their parties based on the preference lists submitted before the election and adjusted by preference votes given by
1742-534: A significant constraint on the powers of the monarch by making the "rule of law, religious tolerance and limited constitutional government... the norm in Poland in times when the rest of Europe was being devastated by religious hatred and despotism." It was seen as one of the key principles of the Commonwealth political system and culture, the Golden Liberty . At the same time, historians hold that
1876-627: A single language. At a minimum, transitional dialects existed until the 14th or 15th century and perhaps as late as the 17th century. The German Livonian Brothers of the Sword occupied the western part of the Daugava basin, which resulted in colonization of the territory of modern Latvia (at the time it was called Terra Mariana ) by Germans and had a significant influence on the language's independent development due to Germanisation (see also: Baltic Germans and Baltic German nobility ). There
2010-651: A single sound, the velar fricative [ x ] , while dz and dž are pronounced like straightforward combinations of their component letters (sounds): Dz dz [ dz ] (dzė), Dž dž [ dʒ ] (džė), Ch ch [ x ] (cha). The distinctive Lithuanian letter Ė was used for the first time in the Daniel Klein 's Grammatica Litvanica and firmly established itself in Lithuanian since then. However, linguist August Schleicher used Ë (with two points above it) instead of Ė for expressing
2144-626: A social democrat, became the prime minister less than a year later. This term of the Seimas saw Lithuania fulfilling its long-term foreign policy goals of joining NATO and the European Union . Speaker of the Seimas Artūras Paulauskas also served for two months in 2004 as the Acting President of Lithuania after the impeachement of Rolandas Paksas and before the new election took place. The Social Democrats remained at
2278-878: Is a translation dating from about 1503–1525 of the Lord's Prayer , the Hail Mary , and the Nicene Creed written in the Southern Aukštaitian dialect. On 8 January 1547 the first Lithuanian book was printed – the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas . At the royal courts in Vilnius of Sigismund II Augustus , the last Grand Duke of Lithuania prior to the Union of Lublin , both Polish and Lithuanian were spoken equally widely. In 1552 Sigismund II Augustus ordered that orders of
2412-442: Is augmented by the fact that Proto-Balto-Slavic is easily reconstructible with important proofs in historic prosody. The alleged (or certain, as certain as historical linguistics can be) similarities due to contact are seen in such phenomena as the existence of definite adjectives formed by the addition of an inflected pronoun (descended from the same Proto-Indo-European pronoun), which exist in both Baltic and Slavic yet nowhere else in
2546-549: Is divided into West, North and South; Aukštaitian into West (Suvalkiečiai), South ( Dzūkian ) and East. Lithuanian uses the Latin script supplemented with diacritics . It has 32 letters . In the collation order, y follows immediately after į (called i nosinė ), because both y and į represent the same long vowel [ iː ] : In addition, the following digraphs are used, but are treated as sequences of two letters for collation purposes. The digraph ch represents
2680-637: Is known that Jogaila , being ethnic Lithuanian by the male-line , himself knew and spoke Lithuanian with Vytautas the Great , his cousin from the Gediminids dynasty. During the Christianization of Samogitia none of the clergy, who arrived to Samogitia with Jogaila, were able to communicate with the natives, therefore Jogaila himself taught the Samogitians about Catholicism ; thus he
2814-498: Is largely phonemic, i.e., one letter usually corresponds to a single phoneme (sound). There are a few exceptions: for example, the letter i represents either the vowel [ ɪ ] , as in English sit , or is silent and merely indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized . The latter is largely the case when i occurs after a consonant and is followed by a back or a central vowel , except in some borrowed words (e.g.,
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#17327767457532948-652: Is the current Speaker of the Seimas. Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( endonym : lietuvių kalba , pronounced [lʲiəˈtʊvʲuː kɐɫˈbɐ] ) is an East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family . It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of the official languages of the European Union . There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1 million speakers elsewhere. Around half
3082-509: The 2012 parliamentary election . The Social Democrats became the largest party in the Eleventh Seimas , with 38 seats, forming a government coalition with Labour Party (19 seats), Order and Justice (11 seats) and Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (8 seats). Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania withdrawn from the coalition in 2014. Elections in 2016 resulted in a smaller shift of power. Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union ,
3216-708: The Compendium Grammaticae Lithvanicae singled out that the Lithuanians of the Vilnius Region ( Latin : in tractu Vilnensi ) tend to speak harshly, almost like Austrians , Bavarians and others speak German in Germany . Due to the historical circumstances of Lithuania , Lithuanian-speaking territory was divided into Lithuania proper and Lithuania Minor , therefore, in the 16th–17th centuries, three regional variants of
3350-764: The Galindai ( Γαλίνδαι ) and Sudinoi ( Σουδινοί ), in the 2nd century AD. Lithuanian originated from the Eastern Baltic subgroup and remained nearly unchanged until c. 1 AD, however in c. 500 AD the language of the northern part of Eastern Balts was influenced by the Finnic languages , which fueled the development of changes from the language of the Southern Balts (see: Latgalian , which developed into Latvian , and extinct Curonian , Semigallian , and Selonian ). The language of Southern Balts
3484-582: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1/3 residents in Lithuania proper and up to 1/2 residents in Samogitia ) and 53% of residents in Lithuania Minor (more than 90% of the deceased were Prussian Lithuanians ). Since the 19th century to 1925 the amount of Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania Minor (excluding Klaipėda Region ) decreased from 139,000 to 8,000 due to Germanisation and colonization . As
3618-811: The January Uprising , Mikhail Muravyov , the Russian Governor General of Lithuania , banned the language in education and publishing and barred use of the Latin alphabet altogether, although books continued to be printed in Lithuanian across the border in East Prussia and in the United States . Brought into the country by book smugglers (Lithuanian: knygnešiai ) despite the threat of long prison sentences, they helped fuel growing nationalist sentiment that finally led to
3752-587: The Lithuanian nobility to participate in the social-political life of the state. In 1599, Mikalojus Daukša published his Postil and in its prefaces he expressed that the Lithuanian language situation had improved and thanked bishop Merkelis Giedraitis for his works. In 1776–1790 about 1,000 copies of the first Catholic primer in Lithuanian – Mokslas skaitymo rašto lietuviško – were issued annually, and it continued to be published until 1864. Over 15,000 copies appeared in total. In 1864, following
3886-588: The Magistrate of Vilnius be announced in Lithuanian, Polish, and Ruthenian. The same requirement was valid for the Magistrate of Kaunas . In the 16th century, following the decline of Ruthenian usage in favor of Polish in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Lithuanian language strengthened its positions in Lithuania due to reforms in religious matters and judicial reforms which allowed lower levels of
4020-633: The Russian and Ukrainian territory. Hydronyms and archaeology analysis show that the Slavs started migrating to the Baltic areas east and north-east directions in the 6–7th centuries, before then, the Baltic and Slavic boundary was south of the Pripyat River . In the 1960s, Vladimir Toporov and Vyacheslav Ivanov made the following conclusions about the relationship between the Baltic and Slavic languages: These scholars' theses do not contradict
4154-707: The Second Partition , anticipating the Third Partition , the final dissolution of the Polish-Lithuanian state, just two years later. Harvard political scientist Grzegorz Ekiert , assessing the history of the liberum veto in Poland–Lithuania, concludes: Political scientist Dalibor Roháč noted that the "principle of liberum veto played an important role in [the] emergence of the unique Polish form of constitutionalism " and acted as
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4288-454: The Sejm of 1611 context, some resolutions were struck down, but others passed. From the mid-17th century onward, however, an objection to any item of Sejm legislation from a deputy or senator automatically caused other, earlier adopted legislation to be rejected. That was because all legislation that was adopted by a given Sejm formed a whole. It is commonly and erroneously believed that a Sejm
4422-769: The Seventh Seimas was held on October 20, 1996 with the run-off on November 10. The election was won by the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Conservative Party, which gained 70 seats and formed a coalition with the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party (16 seats). Later part of the term of the Seimas was again characterized by an economic crisis, brought about by Russian financial crisis of 1998 . In addition, several high-profile privatizations were undertaken, including that of Mazeikiu Nafta oil refinery. Vytautas Landsbergis served as
4556-768: The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR restored Lithuanian as the official language of Lithuania, under from the popular pro-independence movement Sąjūdis . On 11 March 1990, the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania was passed. Lithuanian was recognized as sole official language of Lithuania in the Provisional Basic Law (Lithuanian: Laikinasis Pagrindinis Įstatymas ) and
4690-587: The Union of Lublin . The Union created a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and joined the Seimas of Lithuania with the Sejm of Poland into a single Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . By this time, 40 Seimas of Lithuania had taken place. Nobles of Lithuania continued to meet until the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under the name of Lithuanian Convocations. They debated matters concerning
4824-413: The United States , Uruguay , and Spain . 2,955,200 people in Lithuania (including 3,460 Tatars ), or about 86% of the 2015 population, are native Lithuanian speakers; most Lithuanian inhabitants of other nationalities also speak Lithuanian to some extent. The total worldwide Lithuanian-speaking population is about 3,200,000. Lithuanian is the state language of Lithuania and an official language of
4958-653: The comparative method . Lithuanian is spoken mainly in Lithuania . It is also spoken by ethnic Lithuanians living in today's Belarus , Latvia , Poland , and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, as well as by sizable emigrant communities in Argentina , Australia , Brazil , Canada , Denmark , Estonia , France , Germany , Iceland , Ireland , Norway , Russia , Sweden , the United Kingdom ,
5092-641: The elections in 2024 , the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania is the largest party in the Seimas, signing an agreement to form a coalition government with the Union of Democrats "For Lithuania" and the Dawn of Nemunas . The Seimas traces its origins to the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , as well as the Seimas of inter-war Lithuania. The first Seimas after
5226-692: The industrialization in the Soviet Union ). Russian consequently came into use in state institutions: the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania (there were 80% Russians among the 22,000 Communist Party members in the Lithuanian SSR in 1948), radio and television (61–74% of broadcasts were in Russian in 1970). Lithuanians passively resisted Russification and continued to use their own language. On 18 November 1988,
5360-575: The liberum veto would not operate. The second half of the 18th century, marking the age of the Polish Enlightenment , also witnessed an increased trend aiming at the reform of the Commonwealth's inefficient governance. Reforms of 1764–1766 improved the Sejm's proceedings. Majority voting for non-crucial items, including most economic and tax matters, was introduced, with binding instructions from sejmiks being outlawed. The road to reform
5494-415: The liberum veto . The 18th century saw an institution known as a " confederated sejm " evolve. It was a parliament session that operated under the rules of a confederation. Its primary purpose was to avoid disruption by the liberum veto , unlike the national Sejm, which was being paralyzed by the veto. On some occasions, a confederated sejm was formed of the whole membership of the national Sejm so that
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5628-449: The partitions . Piotr Stefan Wandycz wrote that the " liberum veto had become the sinister symbol of old Polish anarchy". In the period of 1573–1763, about 150 sejms were held, about a third failing to pass any legislation, mostly because of the liberum veto . The expression Polish parliament in many European languages originated from the apparent paralysis. The rule evolved from the principle of unanimous consent, which derived from
5762-467: The 13th–16th centuries under the influence of Curonian . Lithuanian dialects are closely connected with ethnographical regions of Lithuania . Even nowadays Aukštaitians and Samogitians can have considerable difficulties understanding each other if they speak with their dialects and not standard Lithuanian, which is mandatory to learn in the Lithuanian education system. Dialects are divided into subdialects. Both dialects have three subdialects. Samogitian
5896-474: The 15th century to about 150 senators and 200 deputies in the 18th century. Early sejms have seen mostly majority voting, but beginning in the 17th century, unanimous voting became more common, and 32 sejms were vetoed with the infamous liberum veto , particularly in the first half of the 18th century. This vetoing procedure has been credited with significantly paralyzing the Commonwealth governance. In addition, beginning in 1573, three special types of sejms handled
6030-581: The 18th century, was successful due to many publications and research. In contrast, the development of Lithuanian in Lithuania proper was obstructed due to the Polonization of the Lithuanian nobility , especially in the 18th century, and it was being influenced by the Samogitian dialect. The Lithuanian-speaking population was also dramatically decreased by the Great Northern War plague outbreak in 1700–1721 which killed 49% of residents in
6164-512: The 19th century, when the Lithuanian National Revival intensified, and the preparations to publish a Lithuanian periodical press were taking place, the mostly south-western Aukštaitian revival writers did not use the 19th-century Lithuanian of Lithuania Minor as it was largely Germanized . Instead, they used a more pure Lithuanian language which has been described by August Schleicher and Friedrich Kurschat and this way
6298-464: The Baltic and Slavic languages closeness and from a historical perspective, specify the Baltic-Slavic languages' evolution. So, there are at least six points of view on the relationships between the Baltic and Slavic. However, as for the hypotheses related to the "Balto-Slavic problem", it is noted that they are more focused on personal theoretical constructions and deviate to some extent from
6432-466: The Baltic languages form their own distinct branch of the family of Indo-European languages , and Endzelīns thought that the similarity between Baltic and Slavic was explicable through language contact. There is also an opinion that suggests the union of Baltic and Slavic languages into a distinct sub-family of Balto-Slavic languages amongst the Indo-European family of languages. Such an opinion
6566-591: The Constitution itself need to be approved in two votes separated by no less than three months, by a 2/3 majority. Changes to international borders of Lithuania need to be approved by 4/5 of the members of the Seimas. The Seimas approves or rejects the candidate for the Prime Minister nominated by the President. The Seimas must also give its assent to the newly formed Government and its programme before
6700-462: The Constitution of 1992, written during the Lithuanian constitutional referendum . Lithuanian is one of two living Baltic languages , along with Latvian , and they constitute the eastern branch of Baltic languages family. An earlier Baltic language, Old Prussian , was extinct by the 18th century; the other Western Baltic languages, Curonian and Sudovian , became extinct earlier. Some theories, such as that of Jānis Endzelīns , considered that
6834-546: The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, proposed by the President. In its legislative capacity, the Seimas also sets the basis for a judiciary institution advising and, to some extent, binding the President in appointing, promoting or dismissing other judges. The Seimas also establishes and disestablishes ministries of the Government, establishes state awards, can declare martial law and emergencies, start mobilization and introduce direct local rule on municipalities. The Seimas has 141 members, elected to
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#17327767457536968-487: The European Union . In the Compendium Grammaticae Lithvanicae , published in 1673, three dialects of Lithuanian are distinguished: Samogitian dialect ( Latin : Samogitiae ) of Samogitia , Royal Lithuania ( Latin : Lithvaniae Regalis ) and Ducal Lithuania ( Latin : Lithvaniae Ducalis ). Ducal Lithuanian is described as pure ( Latin : Pura ), half-Samogitian ( Latin : SemiSamogitizans ) and having elements of Curonian ( Latin : Curonizans ). Authors of
7102-422: The European languages of the participants in the Council of Constance in 1414–1418. From the middle of the 15th century, the legend spread about the Roman origin of the Lithuanian nobility (from the Palemon lineage ), and the closeness of the Lithuanian language and Latin, thus this let some intellectuals in the mid-16th century to advocate for replacement of Ruthenian with Latin, as they considered Latin as
7236-427: The European-wide trend of having a strong executive ( absolute monarchy ). Many historians hold that the liberum veto was a major cause of the deterioration of the Commonwealth political system, particularly in the 18th century, when foreign powers bribed Sejm members to paralyze its proceedings, causing foreign occupation, dominance and manipulation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and its eventual destruction in
7370-432: The Fifth Seimas). The council adopted the Provisional Basic Law that served as a temporary constitution and worked on the Constitution of Lithuania that was submitted and approved by voters in a referendum on October 25, 1992 . Seven elections of the Seimas have since taken place under the constitution. The first election in independent Lithuania was held on October 25, 1992, with a run-off on November 15. The election
7504-456: The Government can start their work. The Government remains accountable to the Seimas for its activities. If the Seimas expresses no-confidence in the Prime Minister or the Government as a whole, the Government must resign and can ask the president to call an early election. Members of Seimas have legal immunity and cannot be arrested or detained without the consent of the vote of Seimas. The Seimas appoints and dismisses justices and presidents of
7638-400: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania or tried to establish a common position among Lithuanian delegates before departing for the Sejm of the Commonwealth. The Sejm of the Commonwealth, General Sejm, was the parliament of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the Union of Lublin until the late 18th century. The sejm was a powerful political institution, and from early 16th century, the Polish king (who was
7772-444: The Grand Duke of Lithuania) could not pass laws without the approval of that body. Duration and frequencies of the sejms changed over time, with the six-week sejm session convened every two years being most common. Sejm locations changed throughout history, eventually with the Commonwealth capital of Warsaw emerging as the primary location. The number of sejm deputies and senators grew over time, from about 70 senators and 50 deputies in
7906-498: The Indo-European family (languages such as Albanian and the Germanic languages developed definite adjectives independently), and that is not reconstructible for Proto-Balto-Slavic, meaning that they most probably developed through language contact. The Baltic hydronyms area stretches from the Vistula River in the west to the east of Moscow and from the Baltic Sea in the north to the south of Kyiv . Vladimir Toporov and Oleg Trubachyov (1961, 1962) studied Baltic hydronyms in
8040-419: The Peasants and People's Party, and the Liberal and Centre Union , although the coalition had to rule in a minority and relied on support of opposition parties. New Union (Social Liberals) later rejoined the coalition in early 2008. Česlovas Juršėnas once again became the Speaker of the Seimas in April 2008. The Tenth Seimas was elected on October 12, 2008, with a run-off on October 26. Homeland Union became
8174-436: The Polish Ł for the first sound and regular L (without a following i) for the second: łupa , lutas . During the Lithuanian National Revival in the 19th century the Polish Ł was abolished, while digraphs sz , cz (that are also common in the Polish orthography ) were replaced with š and č from the Czech orthography because formally they were shorter. Nevertheless, another argument to abolish sz and cz
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#17327767457538308-406: The Polish courtiers. Casimir IV Jagiellon's son Saint Casimir , who was subsequently announced as patron saint of Lithuania, was a polyglot and among other languages knew Lithuanian. Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon also could understand and speak Lithuanian as multiple Lithuanian priests served in his royal chapel and he also maintained a Lithuanian court. In 1501, Erazm Ciołek , a priest of
8442-459: The Polish dialect in the Vilnius Region and in the northeastern areas in general are very interesting variant of the Polish language as this dialect developed in a foreign territory which was mostly inhabited by the Lithuanians who were Belarusized (mostly) or Polonized, and to prove this Otrębski provided examples of Lithuanianisms in the Tutejszy language . In 2015, Polish linguist Mirosław Jankowiak [ pl ] attested that many of
8576-483: The President is abroad or is incapable to exercise the duties of the office. The Speaker of the Seimas, in such a situation, does not have the full powers of the President. The Speaker of the Seimas and the Deputy Speakers are responsible to the Seimas for their activities, answering questions submitted by the members of the parliament. Under the Statute of the Seimas, the Speakers of the Seimas suspend membership in their political groups upon election. Saulius Skvernelis
8710-448: The Russian Empire and achieve this by peaceful means. It is considered an important step towards the Act of Independence of Lithuania, adopted on February 16, 1918 by the Council of Lithuania, as the Seimas laid the groundwork for the establishment of an independent Lithuanian state. The first widely elected body in Lithuania after the declaration of independence on February 16, 1918, was the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania . The election
8844-401: The Second Statute of Lithuania , the Seimas acquired full legislative powers, acting as the lower house of the parliament, with the Lithuanian Council of Lords as the upper house. It was at this point that elections to the Seimas were introduced (local nobles would elect their delegates) – any noble could participate in the Seimas before. Seimas of the Grand Dutchy was abolished in 1569, with
8978-428: The Seimas ratifies international treaties. Decisions of the Seimas are taken in open simple majority votes. In some cases prescribed by law, a secret ballot is held, for example in expressing no-confidence in the government. Constitutional laws are adopted by the Seimas in a majority vote and can be changed only by a 3/5 majority vote. The list of constitutional laws needs to be approved in a 3/5 majority vote. Changes to
9112-433: The Speaker of the Seimas during the term. The Eighth Seimas was elected on October 8, 2000. Liberal Union of Lithuania won the most seats of any party in the election, with 33, forming the government with New Union (Social Liberals) (its leader, Artūras Paulauskas becoming the Speaker of the Seimas), Lithuanian Centre Union and the Modern Christian Democrats. The coalition was short-lived and Algirdas Brazauskas ,
9246-644: The Vilnius Cathedral, explained to the Pope that the Lithuanians preserve their language and ensure respect to it ( Linguam propriam observant ), but they also use the Ruthenian language for simplicity reasons because it is spoken by almost half of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A note written by Sigismund von Herberstein in the first half of the 16th century states that, in an ocean of Ruthenian in this part of Europe, there were two non-Ruthenian regions: Lithuania and Samogitia where its inhabitants spoke their own language, but many Ruthenians were also living among them. The earliest surviving written Lithuanian text
9380-447: The Vilnius Region's inhabitants who declare Polish nationality speak a Belarusian dialect which they call mowa prosta (' simple speech '). Currently, Lithuanian is divided into two dialects: Aukštaitian (Highland Lithuanian), and Samogitian (Lowland Lithuanian). There are significant differences between standard Lithuanian and Samogitian and these are often described as separate languages. The modern Samogitian dialect formed in
9514-464: The Vilnius Region, especially when Vilnius Voivode Ludwik Bociański issued a secret memorandum of 11 February 1936 which stated the measures for suppressing the Lithuanians in the region. Some Lithuanian historians, like Antanas Tyla [ lt ] and Ereminas Gintautas, consider these Polish policies as amounting to an " ethnocide of Lithuanians". Between 1862 and 1944, the Lithuanian schools were completely banned in Lithuania Minor and
9648-435: The acquirement of a foreign speech." Lithuanian was studied by several linguists such as Franz Bopp , August Schleicher , Adalbert Bezzenberger , Louis Hjelmslev , Ferdinand de Saussure , Winfred P. Lehmann and Vladimir Toporov , Jan Safarewicz, and others. By studying place names of Lithuanian origin, linguist Jan Safarewicz [ pl ] concluded that the eastern boundaries of Lithuanian used to be in
9782-413: The army and had to call the Seimas more frequently. In exchange for increased taxation, the nobility demanded various privileges, including strengthening the Seimas. At first the Seimas did not have the legislative power. It would debate on foreign and domestic affairs, taxes, wars and treasury. At this time, there were no rules regulating how frequently the Seimas would assemble, who could participate, how
9916-498: The budget, confirming the Prime Minister and the Government and controlling their activities. Its 141 members are elected for a four-year term, with 71 elected in individual constituencies, and 70 elected in a nationwide vote based on open list proportional representation . A party must receive at least 5%, and a multi-party union at least 7%, of the national vote to qualify for the proportional representation seats. Following
10050-408: The coalition included two other parties (Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania and Order and Justice), but the latter was expelled in the same year. The Thirteenth Seimas was elected in two rounds on 11 and 25 October 2020 and resulted in an upheaval of the government. The previously dominant Farmers and Greens Union lost much of their support, finishing in second place with 32 seats, and entering
10184-658: The common language emerged. Lithuanians in Lithuania Minor spoke Western Aukštaitian dialect with specifics of Įsrutis and Ragainė environs (e.g. works of Martynas Mažvydas , Jonas Bretkūnas , Jonas Rėza , and Daniel Klein 's Grammatica Litvanica ). The other two regional variants of the common language were formed in Lithuania proper: middle, which was based on the specifics of the Duchy of Samogitia (e.g. works of Mikalojus Daukša , Merkelis Petkevičius , Steponas Jaugelis‑Telega , Samuelis Boguslavas Chylinskis , and Mikołaj Rej 's Lithuanian postil ), and eastern, based on
10318-416: The democratically elected government was replaced with the authoritarian rule of Antanas Smetona . The Third Seimas was dissolved on March 12, 1927 and new elections were not called until 1936. The Fourth Seimas of Lithuania was elected on 9 and 10 June 1936. Elections took place under the constitution of 1928, which had been proclaimed by president Smetona without the assent of the Seimas. The parliament
10452-509: The earliest texts dating only to c. 1500 AD , whereas Ancient Greek was first written down about three thousand years earlier in c. 1450 BC). According to hydronyms of Baltic origin, the Baltic languages were spoken in a large area east of the Baltic Sea , and in c. 1000 BC it had two linguistic units: western and eastern. The Greek geographer Ptolemy had already written of two Baltic tribe/nations by name,
10586-414: The early 1990s, IBM had a decision-making process called "non-concur" in which any department head could veto a company-wide strategy if it did not fit in with their own department's outlook, the disagreements being then sent to the superiors in the hierarchy, often taking several months. This effectively turned IBM into several independent fiefdoms . "Non-concur" was eliminated by CEO Louis Gerstner , who
10720-544: The eastern Prussian Lithuanians ' dialect spoken in Lithuania Minor . These dialects had preserved archaic phonetics mostly intact due to the influence of the neighbouring Old Prussian , while other dialects had experienced different phonetic shifts . Lithuanian became the official language of the country following the restoration of Lithuania's statehood in 1918. The 1922 Constitution of Lithuania (the first permanent Lithuanian constitution ) recognized it as
10854-408: The eldest member of the Seimas. The Speaker of the Seimas represents the Seimas and directs its work. Under the legislative procedure, the Speaker submits the laws adopted by the Seimas to the President and may sign and proclaim the laws that are not signed or returned by the President in due time. The Speaker of the Seimas may temporarily act as the President or deputise for President in cases where
10988-490: The election in 1996, gaining 70 seats and governing with the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party . The two parties merged in 2008 under the banner of Homeland Union, winning the election in the same year with 45 seats. Other parties that have gained at least 10 seats in any election to the Seimas are Centre Union of Lithuania , New Union (Social Liberals) (part of the ruling coalition between 2001 and 2008, later merged with Labour Party ), Liberal Union of Lithuania (part of
11122-517: The entire Sejm was prematurely disrupted on the strength of the liberum veto before it had finished its deliberations by the Kyiv deputy, Adam Olizar . The practice spiraled out of control, and in 1688, the Sejm was dissolved even before the proceedings had begun or the Marshal of the Sejm was elected. During the reign of John III Sobieski (1674–1696), half of Sejm proceedings were scuttled by
11256-432: The first consonant in lūpa [ˈ ɫ ûːpɐ] , "lip", is a velarized dental lateral approximant ; on the other hand, the first consonant in liūtas [ˈ lʲ uːt̪ɐs̪] , "lion", is a palatalized alveolar lateral approximant ; both consonants are followed by the same vowel, the long [ uː ] , and no [ ɪ ] can be pronounced in liūtas ). Due to Polish influence , the Lithuanian alphabet included sz , cz and
11390-530: The first female Speaker of the Seimas. The term of the Tenth Seimas was plagued a severe economic crisis and the bust of the housing bubble. The Seimas and the Government responded with a wide-ranging and much-criticized tax reform and severe austerity, bringing about wide dissatisfaction and protests. As a result of widespread dissatisfaction with the ruling coalition, the ruling parties fared poorly in
11524-426: The formation of standard Lithuanian. The conventions of written Lithuanian had been evolving during the 19th century, but Jablonskis, in the introduction to his Lietuviškos kalbos gramatika , was the first to formulate and expound the essential principles that were so indispensable to its later development. His proposal for Standard Lithuanian was based on his native Western Aukštaitian dialect with some features of
11658-422: The government in 2001. The two parties merged under the banner of Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and formed the government after the elections of 2004 and 2012 , and participated in the government as a junior partner after the elections of 2016 . Sąjūdis , which had led Lithuania into independence, finished distant second in 1992. Its right wing formed the Homeland Union , a conservative party which won
11792-522: The helm of the government after the 2004 parliamentary election , which was held on October 10, with the run-off on October 24. The party was the third-largest in the Ninth Seimas after the election with 20 seats, behind Labour Party with 39 and Homeland Union (Lithuanian Conservatives) with 25, but managed to govern together with New Union (Social Liberals) (11 seats), the Labour Party and
11926-419: The highest population literacy rates: Vilna Governorate (in 1897 ~23.6–50% Lithuanian of whom 37% were literate), Kovno Governorate (in 1897 66% Lithuanian of whom 55.3% were literate), Suwałki Governorate (in 1897 in counties of the governorate where Lithuanian population was dominant, 76,6% of males and 50,2% of females were literate). Jonas Jablonskis (1860–1930) made significant contributions to
12060-616: The independent Republic of Lithuania to the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union . Soviet authorities introduced Lithuanian– Russian bilingualism, and Russian, as the de facto official language of the USSR, took precedence and the use of Lithuanian was reduced in a process of Russification. Many Russian-speaking workers and teachers migrated to the Lithuanian SSR (fueled by
12194-794: The language was almost completely eliminated there. The Baltic-origin place names retained their basis for centuries in Prussia but were Germanized (e.g. Tilžė – Tilsit , Labguva – Labiau , Vėluva – Wehliau , etc.); however, after the annexation of the Königsberg region into the Russian SFSR , they were changed completely, regardless of previous tradition (e.g. Tilsit – Sovetsk , Labiau – Polesk , Wehliau – Znamensk , etc.). The Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940 , German occupation in 1941 , and eventually Soviet re-occupation in 1944 , reduced
12328-546: The largest party with 45 seats, forming a coalition with populist and short-lived National Resurrection Party (16 seats), Liberal Movement (11 seats) and Liberal and Centre Union (8 seats). Arūnas Valinskas of the National Resurrection Party was elected the Speaker of the Seimas. Ten months later, on September 17, 2009, he was replaced by Irena Degutienė of the Homeland Union, who became
12462-952: The lifting of the ban in 1904. According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897 (at the height of the Lithuanian press ban), 53.5% of Lithuanians (10 years and older) were literate, while the average of the Russian Empire was only 24–27.7% (in the European part of Russia the average was 30%, in Poland – 40.7%). In the Russian Empire Lithuanian children were mostly educated by their parents or in secret schools by "daractors" in native Lithuanian language, while only 6.9% attended Russian state schools due to resistance to Russification . Russian governorates with significant Lithuanian populations had one of
12596-500: The native language of Lithuanians. Initially, Latin and Church Slavonic were the main written ( chancellery ) languages of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but in the late 17th century – 18th century Church Slavonic was replaced with Polish. Nevertheless, Lithuanian was a spoken language of the medieval Lithuanian rulers from the Gediminids dynasty and its cadet branches: Kęstutaičiai and Jagiellonian dynasties . It
12730-620: The opposition along with their previous partners. The Homeland Union finished first with 50 seats and formed a centre-right coalition government with the Liberal Movement (13 seats) and the newly formed Freedom Party (11 seats). Elections in 2024 , held on 13 and 27 October 2024 to determine the composition of the Fourteenth Seimas , again resulted in an overturning of the government. The previously dominant Homeland Union finished in second place with 28 seats and entered
12864-416: The opposition along with their previous partners. The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party finished first with 52 seats and formed a centre-left coalition with two newly formed parties: the Union of Democrats "For Lithuania" (14 seats) and Dawn of Nemunas (20 seats). The inclusion of Dawn of Nemunas in the ruling coalition sparked local and international backlash due to past anti-Semitic statements made by
12998-448: The party's founder. The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania exercises legislative power in Lithuania. The powers of the Seimas are defined by the Constitution and the laws of Lithuania. The primary function of the Seimas is to consider, adopt and issue laws and amendments to the Constitution. The Seimas also approves the state budget proposed by the Government, supervises its implementation, and sets state taxation. In foreign relations,
13132-683: The president. After the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940 and subsequent occupation, the Fourth Seimas was dismissed and a puppet People's Seimas was elected in a heavily rigged elections, in order to give legal sanction to the occupation and annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union. The new parliament proclaimed the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, petitioned for admission to the Soviet Union (a petition that
13266-429: The principle of liberum veto was a major cause of the deterioration of the Commonwealth political system and Commonwealth's eventual downfall. Deputies bribed by magnates or foreign powers, or simply content to believe they were living in some kind of "Golden Age", for over a century paralysed the Commonwealth's government, stemming any attempts at reform. Piotr Stefan Wandycz wrote that the " liberum veto had become
13400-542: The process of the royal election in the interregnum period. The Great Seimas of Vilnius was a major assembly held on December 4 and 5, 1905 in Vilnius, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, largely inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1905 . It was the first modern national congress in Lithuania, with over 2,000 participants. The assembly made the decision to demand wide political autonomy within
13534-642: The restoration of independence of Lithuania convened in 1992. The first traces of large nobility meetings can be found in the negotiations for Treaty of Salynas in 1398. However, it is considered that the first Seimas met in Hrodna in 1445 during talks between Casimir IV Jagiellon and the Council of Lords. As the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars raged, the Grand Duke needed more tax revenues to finance
13668-595: The ruling coalition between 2000 and 2001, later merged with the Centre Union of Lithuania to form Liberal and Centre Union ), Labour Party (part of the ruling coalition between 2004 and 2008, as well as between 2012 and 2016), Order and Justice (part of the ruling coalition between 2012 and 2016), Liberal and Centre Union (part of the ruling coalition between 2008 and 2012, later merged with YES to form Lithuanian Freedom Union ), Peasants and New Democratic Party Union (now Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union , leading
13802-547: The same. In the Grammatica Litvanica Klein also established the letter W for marking the sound [v], the use of which was later abolished in Lithuanian (it was replaced with V , notably by authors of the Varpas newspaper). The usage of V instead of W especially increased since the early 20th century, likely considerably influenced by Lithuanian press and schools. The Lithuanian writing system
13936-508: The sessions should take place or what functions the Seimas had. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Seimas acquired some legislative powers and could petition the Grand Duke to pass certain laws, which the Duke usually granted in exchange for nobility's support and cooperation in taxation and war matters. Major reforms were carried out between 1564 and 1566, just before the Union of Lublin. In
14070-801: The shape of zigzags through Grodno , Shchuchyn , Lida , Valozhyn , Svir , and Braslaw . Such eastern boundaries partly coincide with the spread of Catholic and Orthodox faith, and should have existed at the time of the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387 and later. Safarewicz's eastern boundaries were moved even further to the south and east by other scholars (e.g. Mikalay Biryla [ be ] , Petras Gaučas [ lt ] , Jerzy Ochmański [ pl ] , Aleksandras Vanagas , Zigmas Zinkevičius , and others). Proto-Balto-Slavic branched off directly from Proto-Indo-European, then sub-branched into Proto-Baltic and Proto-Slavic . Proto-Baltic branched off into Proto-West Baltic and Proto-East Baltic. The Baltic languages passed through
14204-506: The sinister symbol of old Polish anarchy." Wagner echoed him thus: "Certainly, there was no other institution of old Poland which has been more sharply criticized in more recent times than this one.". A 2004 Polish collectible card game , Veto , set in the background of a royal election during an election sejm , is named after this procedure. In the Netflix series 1670 , Jan Paweł uses liberum veto to "win" an assembly. Until
14338-499: The sole official language of the state and mandated its use throughout the state. The improvement of education system during the interwar period resulted in 92% of literacy rate of the population in Lithuania in 1939 (those still illiterate were mostly elderly). Following the Żeligowski's Mutiny in 1920, Vilnius Region was detached from Lithuania and was eventually annexed by Poland in 1922. This resulted in repressions of Lithuanians and mass-closure of Lithuanian language schools in
14472-695: The specifics of Eastern Aukštaitians, living in Vilnius and its region (e.g. works of Konstantinas Sirvydas , Jonas Jaknavičius , and Robert Bellarmine 's catechism ). In Vilnius University , there are preserved texts written in the Lithuanian language of the Vilnius area, a dialect of Eastern Aukštaitian, which was spoken in a territory located south-eastwards from Vilnius: the sources are preserved in works of graduates from Stanislovas Rapolionis -based Lithuanian language schools, graduate Martynas Mažvydas and Rapalionis relative Abraomas Kulvietis . The development of Lithuanian in Lithuania Minor, especially in
14606-556: The support of other parties. It was the first time since independence that a ruling government survived an election. Artūras Paulauskas was reelected as the Speaker of the Seimas, but was replaced by Viktoras Muntianas in 2006. In 2006, the Labour Party left the coalition when its leader was removed from the post of Minister of Economy and the Social Democrats formed a coalition with the Civil Democracy Party,
14740-463: The traditions of decision making in the Kingdom of Poland, and it developed under the federative character of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Each deputy represented a region in the Sejm , himself being elected at a sejmik (the local sejm of a region). He thus assumed responsibility to his sejmik for all decisions taken at the Sejm. Since all noblemen were considered equal, a decision taken by
14874-539: The veto. The practice also spread from the national Sejm to local sejmik proceedings. In the first half of the 18th century, it became increasingly common for Sejm sessions to be broken up by the liberum veto , as the Commonwealth's neighbours, chiefly Russia and Prussia , found it to be a useful tool to frustrate attempts at reforming and strengthening the Commonwealth. By bribing deputies to exercise their vetoes, Poland–Lithuania's neighbours could derail any measures not to their liking. The Commonwealth deteriorated from
15008-472: The voters. Seven elections of the Seimas have been held in Lithuania since independence in 1990. Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania won the absolute majority of seats in the first election in 1992 , the only time it has been achieved in independent Lithuania as of 2015. The party suffered electoral setback in 1996 , but remained a major electoral force in the election of 2000 (in cooperation with Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ), allowing it to form
15142-411: The writings has survived. The first recorded Lithuanian word, reported to have been said on 24 December 1207 from the chronicle of Henry of Latvia , was Ba , an interjection of a Lithuanian raider after he found no loot to pillage in a Livonian church. Although no writings in Lithuanian have survived from the 15th century or earlier, Lithuanian ( Latin : Lingwa Lietowia ) was mentioned as one of
15276-462: The written language of Lithuania Minor was transferred to resurgent Lithuania. The most famous standardizer of the Lithuanian, Jonas Jablonskis , established the south-western Aukštaitian dialect, including the Eastern dialect of Lithuania Minor, as the basis of standardized Lithuanian in the 20th century, which led to him being nicknamed the father of standardized Lithuanian. According to Polish professor Jan Otrębski 's article published in 1931,
15410-582: Was elected on May 8–10, 1926, with the Christian Democrats in opposition for the first time. The Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union and Social Democrats formed a coalition government which lifted martial law, restored democratic freedoms, and declared broad amnesty to political prisoners. However, the government was sharply criticized following some unpopular decisions. The Seimas was interrupted by 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état in December, when
15544-431: Was a spoken language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Duchy of Prussia , while the beginning of Lithuanian writing is possibly associated with the introduction of Christianity in Lithuania when Mindaugas was baptized and crowned King of Lithuania in 1250–1251. It is believed that prayers were translated into the local dialect of Lithuanian by Franciscan monks during the baptism of Mindaugas, however none of
15678-415: Was a parliamentary device in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . It was a form of unanimity voting rule that allowed any member of the Sejm (legislature) to force an immediate end to the current session and to nullify any legislation that had already been passed at the session by shouting either Sisto activitatem! (Latin: "I stop the activity!") or Nie pozwalam! ( Polish : "I do not allow!"). The rule
15812-480: Was able to communicate in the Samogitian dialect of Lithuanian. Soon afterwards Vytautas the Great wrote in his 11 March 1420 letter to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor , that Lithuanian and Samogitian are the same language. The use of Lithuanian continued at the Lithuanian royal court after the deaths of Vytautas the Great (1430) and Jogaila (1434). For example, since the young Grand Duke Casimir IV Jagiellon
15946-549: Was accepted on August 3, 1940), adopted a new constitution and renamed itself to the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR , a rubber stamp legislature. On March 11, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR proclaimed the independence of Lithuania from the Soviet Union , renaming itself the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania (also called Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas, and regarded as
16080-538: Was brought in to revive the declining company. Dispositions of the European Union law requiring unanimity between states have been compared to the liberum veto by some commenters. Wallonia vetoing Belgium's signature of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada brought comparisons to this rule. Decisions made by the United Nations can be dropped if
16214-500: Was caused by independent parallel development, and the Proto-Balto-Slavic language did not exist. An attempt to reconcile the opposing stances was made by Jan Michał Rozwadowski . He proposed that the two language groups were indeed a unity after the division of Indo-European, but also suggested that after the two had divided into separate entities (Baltic and Slavic), they had posterior contact. The genetic kinship view
16348-552: Was elected to a five-year term. With opposition parties effectively barred from participating, Lithuanian Nationalists Union got 42 (of 49) seats, with the remaining seven seats taken by the Young Lithuania, a youth branch of the Nationalists Union. The primary task of the new Seimas was to adopt a new constitution, which was accomplished on 11 February 1938. The new constitution provided for even more powers to
16482-472: Was fascination with the Lithuanian people and their language among the late 19th-century researchers, and the philologist Isaac Taylor wrote the following in his The Origin of the Aryans (1892): "Thus it would seem that the Lithuanians have the best claim to represent the primitive Aryan race , as their language exhibits fewer of those phonetic changes, and of those grammatical losses which are consequent on
16616-479: Was first disrupted by the liberum veto by a Trakai deputy, Władysław Siciński , in 1652. In reality, he vetoed only the continuation of the Sejm's deliberations beyond the statutory time limit. He had, however, set up a dangerous precedent. Over the proceedings of the next few sejms, the veto was still occasionally overruled, but it became gradually more accepted. Before 20 years had passed, in 1669 in Kraków ,
16750-468: Was first represented by August Schleicher . Some supporters of the Baltic and Slavic languages unity even claim that Proto-Baltic branch did not exist, suggesting that Proto-Balto-Slavic split into three language groups: East Baltic , West Baltic and Proto-Slavic . Antoine Meillet and Jan Baudouin de Courtenay , on the contrary, believed that the similarity between the Slavic and Baltic languages
16884-570: Was held on April 14–15, 1920. The voter turnout reached about 90%. The primary role of the Constituent Assembly was to adopt the Constitution of Lithuania , which was accomplished on August 1, 1922. The new constitution gave broad powers to the parliament, the Seimas, elected to a three-year term. Seimas would select the Cabinet of Ministers and elect the President. In addition, the Constituent Assembly adopted numerous laws, including
17018-481: Was in place from the mid-17th century to the late 18th century in the Sejm's parliamentary deliberations. It was based on the premise that since all of the Polish–Lithuanian noblemen were equal, every measure that came before the Sejm had to be passed unanimously. The liberum veto was a key part of the political system of the Commonwealth, strengthening democratic elements and checking royal power and went against
17152-463: Was less influenced by this process and retained many of its older features, which form Lithuanian. According to glottochronological research, the Eastern Baltic languages split from the Western Baltic ones between c. 400 BC and c. 600 BC. The differentiation between Lithuanian and Latvian started after c. 800 AD; for a long period, they could be considered dialects of
17286-403: Was near collapse, giving rise to the term "Polish anarchy", and the country was managed by provincial assemblies and magnates. Disruption of the Commonwealth governance caused by the liberum veto was highly significant. From 1573 to 1763, about 150 Sejms were held, of which 53 failed to pass any legislation. Historian Jacek Jędruch notes that out of the 53 disrupted Sejms, 32 were disrupted by
17420-793: Was not easy, as conservatives, supported by foreign powers, opposed most of the changes and attempted to defend the liberum veto and other elements perpetuating the inefficient governance, most notably by the Cardinal Laws of 1768. The liberum veto was finally abolished by the Constitution of 3 May 1791 , adopted by a confederated sejm, which permanently established the principle of majority rule. The achievements of that constitution, however, which historian Norman Davies called "the first constitution of its kind in Europe", were undone by another confederated sejm, meeting at Grodno in 1793 . That Sejm, under duress from Russia and Prussia, ratified
17554-438: Was the only regular interwar Seimas which completed its full three-year term. The Christian Democrats gained two additional seats which were enough to give them a slim majority. The Seimas continued the land reform, expanded the network of primary and secondary schools and introduced a system of social support. However, it did not bring political stability, as it saw several short-lived governments. The Third Seimas of Lithuania
17688-434: Was to distinguish Lithuanian from Polish . The new letters š and č were cautiously used in publications intended for more educated readers (e.g. Varpas , Tėvynės sargas , Ūkininkas ), however sz and cz continued to be in use in publications intended for less educated readers as they caused tension in society and prevailed only after 1906. Liberum veto The liberum veto ( Latin for "free veto " )
17822-677: Was underage, the supreme control over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was in the hands of the Lithuanian Council of Lords , presided by Jonas Goštautas , while Casimir IV Jagiellon was taught Lithuanian and customs of Lithuania by appointed court officials. During the Polish szlachta 's envoys visit to Casimir in 1446, they noticed that in Casimir's royal court the Lithuanian-speaking courtiers were mandatory, alongside
17956-570: Was won by the (ex-communist) Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania , which gained 73 of the 141 seats in the Sixth Seimas . Algirdas Brazauskas was elected the first speaker of the Seimas on November 25, 1992, becoming the acting President on the same day. Česlovas Juršėnas then became the acting (and later permanent) Speaker of the Seimas. The period was plagued by poor economic situation and financial scandals, including one involving former Prime Minister Adolfas Šleževičius . The election to
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