Conservatives want to change the electoral system: by good words, a very simple goal?

“During the next elections we will have unique members, who will cover the territories of four municipalities. These districts are becoming illogical, they reduce the representation of the population of the region, at that time the representation of Vilnius is increasing ”, commented the conservative Andrius Vyšniauskas about the initiative.

Such aspirations of the Lithuanian Christian Democrats-Union of the Fatherland (TS-LKD) are evaluated differently. Mažvydas Jastramskis, a political scientist at the Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences (VU TSPMI), said that the analysis of the electoral system did reveal the malfunction of the current Seimas electoral system. For his part, Egidijus Šileikis, a professor at Vilnius University (VU) and an expert in constitutional law, pointed out that in the past there were proposals to abandon the proportional electoral system, leaving only single-member districts. At the same time, according to him, it is worth respecting the established traditions of the Seimas elections.

We remind you that currently, according to the current Seimas Elections Law, when electing politicians to represent the nation for four years, the entire territory of Lithuania is divided into 71 single-member electoral districts, taking into account the population and territorial division administrative. .

A multinominal constituency is also formed, in which 70 members of the Seimas are elected according to the proportional electoral system. Thus a total of 141 members of the Seimas are elected. This electoral system of the Seimas belongs to a mixed type of electoral systems.

M. Jastramskis: The current electoral system of the Seimas is working poorly

Lithuanian electoral system in the study “Is it possible to forecast the Seimas elections? M. Jastramskis, a political scientist at the VU TSPMI, who analyzed the problem of the three organs in Lithuanian politics, said that the analysis of the electoral system revealed that the electoral system of the Seimas in Lithuania was malfunctioning.

“It malfunctions largely due to the single-member element. In any parliamentary electoral system, there are two main parameters on which an electoral system is evaluated, all other parameters are complementary. This first parameter is representation. The second parameter it is the fragmentation of power.

Our electoral system is underrepresented, with a large number of wasted votes and well above 5%. in the barrier, they are wasted on a single member and their second round, but they are also wasted on the first round, because one person is chosen in a single member, all others cannot enter the Seimas.

If the electoral system provides a poor one, the other aspect is always expected to work well. But the problem with our electoral system is that it does not provide the second parameter either. Many parties regularly enter parliament, we have coalition governments, parties divide ministries, and prime ministers are often not strong.

This is really bad when it comes to evaluating our electoral system, ”said M. Jastramskis.

He assured that, looking at the practice of other countries, a system like that of Lithuania is rarely used in places. “For example, it is mentioned that Germany has a mixed electoral system, but it is completely different from Lithuania. In reality, there is a proportional electoral system, where individual members act rather than classify, ”he gave an example to a political scientist.

While Mr. Jastramski recognized that a malfunctioning electoral system was really worth changing, he said it was still worth remembering the Italian example of changing the system once every ten years after changing it.

“It’s worse than having a worse electoral system that people are used to. If there was a clear consensus between the parties in parliament on the need to move to a proportional electoral system, then a proportional system would certainly be a more logical option for Lithuania, ”explained M. Jastramskis.

If a consensus is reached, the time to change the electoral system, according to the political scientist, would be favorable now.

“It just came to our attention then. The electoral system should be changed not before the elections, because by changing before the elections, it seems that the parties want to improve their lives. But if you see that this divides the parliament and becomes an issue sharp, then you need to ask an additional question, if it’s really worth it. ” Delfi.lt said the political scientist.

D. Žalimas also supports the idea

On the abolition of single-member states before 2020. The president of the Constitutional Court, Dainius Žalimas, has also intervened in the elections to the Seimas.

“I was wondering why not bring up the idea that has probably been on my mind since 2007, when, by the way, I first wrote an article on Delphi on this topic. Here’s a problem. For the sake of clarity, I would like to emphasize that the Constitution allows any electoral system: proportional, majority, and current mixed. But there is a question of what is better, how constitutional values ​​can be better enshrined.

I mean the rights of all to participate in the government of the state. It is true that I believe that a pluralistic democracy, in which the people are represented in parliament as much as possible, is no less important.
Clearly, the proportional electoral system has more advantages over the majority. It can be said that many fewer votes go in vain than under mixed, I mean the election of a part of the members of the Seimas, more than half, through a majority system. On the other hand, there are other things, such as what is more in line with the mission of a member of the Seimas.

A member of the Seimas is a representative of the entire nation and cannot represent any territorial community. It must lead in the national interest. Of course, it is natural that people who are elected in electoral districts always have internal tensions “, said D. Žalimas in the program” Delfi Diena “a year ago.

The question of political self-determination

Constitutional law expert E. Šileikis took a slightly different position. According to him, the issue of the electoral system is a political issue, not a legal one, because it is a matter of political choice. But proposals to abandon or reduce the number of single-member constituencies, he notes, run counter to some earlier ideas by top state leaders.

“I well remember the American call by President Valdas Adamkus to leave the party lists, which cause people of unclear reputations to escape and enter the Seimas, and to choose an American, Anglo-Saxon option: leave only advantages and disadvantages to electoral districts single-member constituencies That was the idea of ​​strengthening single-member constituencies.

The opponents said then, no, there is a European tradition and we need a party struggle, it is a European tradition of five or six parties crossing the electoral barrier. Now it is the opposite: it is said that the single-member members must be abandoned and only the party lists remain. What is the priority in such a case is not entirely clear, because anyone and a person completely unknown to the voter, who has convinced the leaders and leaders of the party, can sneak into the party lists. It is a political issue, not a legal one, “he said.

However, even though the electoral system is a matter of choice of the parliament that adopts the Seimas Elections Law, according to E. Šileikis, the stability of the legal regulation and the established tradition must be respected.

“The stability of legal regulations, traditions and responsible management must be respected. Since 1992 the mixed system has not changed and that is the value. When we say that we have lived badly for thirty years and we have only just seen it, the question arises who would benefit from it ”, said the interlocutor.

Is there another purpose?

Not only the reform of the electoral system of the Seimas, but also the creation of more favorable conditions for oneself: a version of the TS-LKD initiative was raised by Remigijus Žemaitaitis, representative of the Mixed Group of Members of the Seimas.

“It just came to our attention then. Conservatives are well aware that single-member constituencies tend to lose. They are interested in reducing the possibility of people electing their representative directly in the Seimas. This is an old dream. of the conservatives, with whom Vytautas Landsbergis also dreamed while he acted as president of the Seimas ”, assured the parliamentarian.

According to R. Žemaitaitis, such a change would have negative consequences.

“The party chairmen will become gods and will have an army of obedients who will beat up the party chairman in hopes of being in the top five or ten on the list.

There is a well established tradition. This is quite correct, because people go to the polls more actively when voting for only one member. Seimas voters want their own man. If there was only one shortlist choice, we would have about 27-32 percent. electoral participation. This is the case of the European elections, where there is no possibility of electing sole members. That is why we have the lowest turnout in these elections, ”he explained.