Sixth Seimas of Lithuania

In the elections in 1992, 70 members of the parliament were elected on proportional party lists and 71 in single member constituencies. Elections took place on 25 October 1992. In those constituencies where no candidate won outright on 25 October, a run-off was held on 15 November.[1]^:336–341

The main challenger to the ruling Sąjūdis nationalist movement, which had controlled the Supreme Council since February 1990 and spearheaded the move to independence, was the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (LDDP). In the run-up to the elections, Sąjūdis portrayed the opposing political groups as communist and reactionary, opposed to independence and democracy. The LDDP declared their commitment to maintaining foreign policy goals, including joining Council of Europe and agreements with other international organizations, while also promising friendlier relations and better trade with Russia.[1]^:336–341

The result was a victory for the LDDP, which won 73 seats. Analysts attributed the surprisingly decisive victory to support from farmers and the Russian and Polish minorities, as well as widespread dissatisfaction with the economic situation and the policies of the ruling Sąjūdis political movement, which only managed to win 30 seats.[1]^:336–341[2]

Speaker of the Seimas

Algirdas Brazauskas (LDDP)
25 November 1992 - 25 February 1993

Česlovas Juršėnas (LDDP)
25 February 1993 – 25 November 1996

The newly elected Sixth Seimas first gathered on 25 November 1992. In what was to become a procedural tradition, the first session was presided over by the oldest member of the parliament – Juozas Bulavas. As the new parliament lacked clear procedures governing its work (the Statute of Seimas was only adopted on 26 February 1994), it was decided to follow the regulations of the preceding Supreme Council of Lithuania.[1]^:346–347

Algirdas Brazauskas was elected as the first Speaker of the Sixth Seimas, supported by 81 of the parliament members. Brazauskas only acted in this capacity for less than a day – as soon as Seimas adopted the necessary legal framework, he assumed the position of acting President of Lithuania, in accordance with the constitution.[3] His deputy, Česlovas Juršėnas became the acting Speaker of the Parliament. After the presidential election early the following year, Brazauskas became the first post-independence President of Lithuania, resigned from the Seimas and Juršėnas was elected as the Speaker for the remainder of the term.

Algirdas Brazauskas proposed Bronislovas Lubys, the managing director of “Azotas” (later Achema), as the Prime Minister of the fifth government. His candidacy was approved by the parliament with 87 votes in favor. It was understood that the government was to be short-lived, as it would have to return its mandate after the presidential elections early in 1993.[1]^:367 The government included only three members of LDDP, while nine ministers retained their positions from the previous Sąjūdis-led government.[4] In late 1992 and early 1993 the Seimas adopted the laws implementing the position of the President of Lithuania and governing the elections.

After the presidential elections, Brazauskas put forward economist and businessman Adolfas Šleževičius as the Prime Minister of the sixth government. His candidacy was approved by the Seimas and the government started their work on 16 March 1993, with the stated priorities of creating the foundations for competitive market economy and improving social safety net.[4]

In order to secure monetary stability and control the inflation, Litas was introduced as the national currency of Lithuania, with the circulation starting on 25 June 1993. In 1994, it was pegged to the US Dollar at the rate of 4:1. The introduction of the currency did not soften the growing tensions between the Government, the Seimas and the Bank of Lithuania, which was criticized for its commercial activities and poor supervision of commercial banks. On 10 March 1993, the parliament accepted the resignation of bank's chairman, Vilius Baldišius, replacing him with Romualdas Visokavičius two weeks later. After the Commission for Investigating Financial Crimes, established by the Seimas, uncovered irregularities and illegal transactions in the bank, the Seimas expressed no-confidence in Visokavičius on 19 October 1993, forcing him out and replacing him with Kazimieras Ratkevičius.[1]^:370–371

Failure to supervise the financial sector, at that point dominated by weak banks and outright financial pyramids that wiped out the savings of a substantial part of the population,[1]^:352 was cited by the opposition as one of the reasons for its proposal to express no-confidence in the Government in June 1994, the first such proposal in post-independence Lithuania. Nevertheless, the government survived this and another interpellation on 31 October 1995. The situation changed after the collapse of two commercial banks in December 1995. It emerged that Prime Minister Šleževičius had withdrawn his savings from one of the two banks just days before its collapse. After refusing to resign, he was forced out by the Seimas in a secret-ballot vote on 19 December 1995, with 94 members supporting his ousting. Laurynas Stankevičius, a minister in the Šleževičius cabinet, was approved by the Seimas on 15 February 1996 as the Prime Minister of the seventh government and served until the end of the term of the Seimas.[1]^:372–373

Almost half of all the laws adopted during the period of the Sixth Seimas were related to agricultural reform, implementation of the Constitution of Lithuania and the introduction of Litas as the national currency.[5] Among other important decisions, the Seimas adopted a structural reform of the judiciary and set up the Constitutional Court. The taxation system was reformed, partly in response to budget deficits that the Sixth Seimas never managed to close, and the Value Added Tax introduced.[1]^:411 Dual-layered local government was introduced, with municipal and county administrations sharing the responsibility.[1]^:383–387 On the other hand, the opposition criticized the successive governments and the ruling majority for the slow pace of market reforms, failure to restore the ownership of confiscated private property and weak efforts to fight corruption.

The privatization program, which had been started already in 1990, was initially criticized by the newly elected parliamentary majority, but soon continued. In a chaotic process, the laws governing privatization were reviewed and changed constantly, but still had loopholes in them that allowed well-connected individuals and financial groups to assume control of government property at fire-sale prices. The second stage of privatization started in July 1995 with Seimas adopting the new Law on Privatization of Government and Municipal Property. The new law attempted to eliminate many of the weaknesses in the privatization process – assets could now be sold only for cash, discounts for employees were eliminated and equal participation rights were granted to local and foreign investors. However, the new law did not meet the expectations and the privatization process remained inefficient and prone to corruption.[1]^:395–397

The two largest powers in the Sixth Seimas had vastly different views on how the land reform should take place. Sąjūdis (and Homeland Union that emerged from it) focused on returning the agricultural land to those that had lost it in the waves of Soviet collectivization and implemented it as a policy when in power before 1992. LDDP, on the other hand, prioritized maintaining the existing levels of production, which meant ensuring that the land stays in the hands of those who would work it most efficiently. Once in power, LDDP introduced changes to the Law on Land Reform, slowing down the process of restitution and limiting its scope.[1]^:403

In foreign policy, the Sixth Seimas maintained a pro-European stance, despite Sąjūdis warning the electorate that the success of LDDP would inevitably orient Lithuania towards Russia. Instead, the LDDP-led Sixth Seimas proclaimed the continuity of the previous foreign policy. The last of Russian military forces left Lithuania in 1993. Lithuania soon joined the Council of Europe, while maintaining its long-term goals of joining NATO and European Union.[1]^:425–426