| President of the Republic of Lithuania | |
|---|---|
| Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas | |
| Style | Mr. President (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic) |
| Type | Head of state |
| Member of | European Council |
| Residence | Presidential Palace, Vilnius |
| Appointer | Direct election |
| Term length | Five years, renewable once consecutively |
| Inaugural holder | Antanas Smetona |
| Formation | 4 April 1919 |
| Abolished | 1940–1990 |
| Deputy | Speaker of the Seimas |
| Salary | €10,230 per month (before tax)[1] |
| Website | www |
The President of the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019.
The president has somewhat more executive authority than his counterparts in Estonia and Latvia; his function is very similar to that of the presidents of France and Romania. Similarly to them, but unlike presidents in a fully presidential system such as the United States, he generally has the most authority in foreign affairs. In addition to the customary diplomatic powers of Heads of State, namely receiving the letters of credence of foreign ambassadors and signing treaties, the president determines Lithuania's basic foreign policy guidelines. He is also the commander-in-chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and accordingly heads the State Defense Council and has the right to appoint the Chief of Defence (subject to Seimas consent).[2]
The president also has a significant role in domestic policy. He has the right to submit bills to the Seimas and to veto laws passed by it, appoints the prime minister and approves the government formed by him, and has the right to dissolve the Seimas and call snap elections following a successful motion of no confidence or if the Seimas refuses to approve the government's budget within sixty days. However, the next elected Seimas may retaliate by calling for an earlier presidential election.[3]
Finally, the president ensures an effective judiciary; he nominates one-third of the judges of the Constitutional Court, and the entirety of the Supreme Court, for appointment by the Seimas, and has the right to directly appoint all other judges.
Under the Constitution of Lithuania adopted in 1992, the president is elected to a five-year term under a modified two-round system: a candidate requires an absolute majority of the vote and either voter turnout to be above 50% or for their vote share to be equivalent to at least one-third of the number of registered voters to win the election in the first round.[4] If no candidate does so, the two candidates with the most votes face each other in a second round held two weeks later. Upon taking office, the president must suspend any formal membership in a political party.[3]
If the president dies or becomes incapacitated while in office, the Speaker of the Seimas assumes the office until a new president can be inaugurated following fresh elections.
| No | Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Elected | Took office | Left office | Affiliation/notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| President of the Republic of Lithuania | ||||||
| 1 | Antanas Smetona (1874–1944) |
1919 | 4 April 1919 | 19 June 1920 | First president of the Republic of Lithuania. | |
| Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Aleksandras Stulginskis served as acting president from 19 June 1919 to 21 December 1922. | ||||||
| 2 | Aleksandras Stulginskis (1885–1969) |
1922 | 21 December 1922 | 7 June 1926 | ||
| 3 | Kazys Grinius (1866–1950) |
1926 | 7 June 1926 | 18 December 1926 | Last democratically elected president of the Republic of Lithuania during the interwar period. | |
| Following the 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état, Jonas Staugaitis and Aleksandras Stulginskis served as acting presidents from 18 December 1926 to 19 December 1926. | ||||||
| (1) | Antanas Smetona (1874–1944) |
1926 | 19 December 1926 | 15 June 1940 | Undemocratically elected authoritarian leader serving as head of state until Lithuania's occupation by the Soviet Union in 1940. | |
| Position abolished during the Soviet occupation of 1940–1990 | ||||||
| Speaker of the Seimas Algirdas Brazauskas served as acting president from 25 November 1992 to 25 February 1993. | ||||||
| 4 | Algirdas Brazauskas (1932–2010) |
1993 | 25 February 1993 | 25 February 1998 | First directly elected president of the Republic of Lithuania. | |
| 5 | Valdas Adamkus (born 1926) |
1997–98 | 26 February 1998 | 26 February 2003 | ||
| 6 | Rolandas Paksas (born 1956) |
2002–03 | 26 February 2003 | 6 April 2004 | Impeached and removed from office. | |
| Speaker of the Seimas Artūras Paulauskas served as acting president from 6 April to 12 July 2004. | ||||||
| (5) | Valdas Adamkus (born 1926) |
2004 | 12 July 2004 | 12 July 2009 | ||
| 7 | Dalia Grybauskaitė (born 1956) |
2009 2014 |
12 July 2009 | 12 July 2019 | First female president of Lithuania. Became the first president to be reelected. | |
| 8 | Gitanas Nausėda (born 1964) |
2019 | 12 July 2019 | Incumbent | ||
