Irena Degutienė said required party membership is overly restricts participation in the democratic process.
VILNIUS — Speaker of the Seimas Irena Degutienė is calling for a transformation in Lithuanian democracy by allowing non-party affiliated members to be able to run for positions in local government.
Degutienė says that allowing people to vote for non-party members will [private_supervisor]grow the country’s still nascent civil society. In Lithuania where corruption and cronyism is rife in politics, joining a party and making it to the point where you could stand for election is a barrier for many wishing to enter politics.
Court ruling in favor
The Constitutional Court in 2007 declared that the change should go forth, but so far it has not been enabled for local government elections.
“The constitutional court said in 2007 in its resolution that residents should be able to be elected to municipal councils, being included in any non-political party list. The Constitutional Court requires the parliament to adjust the law so that communities, not being members of political parties, could participate in elections,” Degutienė said on radio on Wednesday.
Currently, people aiming for positions in all levels of government need to be affiliated with an existing party or start their own. Under law, to start a party one must collect 1,000 signatures before it can be validated. Also a person can only be a member of one party at a time. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]grow the country’s still nascent civil society. In Lithuania where corruption and cronyism is rife in politics, joining a party and making it to the point where you could stand for election is a barrier for many wishing to enter politics.
Court ruling in favor
The Constitutional Court in 2007 declared that the change should go forth, but so far it has not been enabled for local government elections.
“The constitutional court said in 2007 in its resolution that residents should be able to be elected to municipal councils, being included in any non-political party list. The Constitutional Court requires the parliament to adjust the law so that communities, not being members of political parties, could participate in elections,” Degutienė said on radio on Wednesday.
Currently, people aiming for positions in all levels of government need to be affiliated with an existing party or start their own. Under law, to start a party one must collect 1,000 signatures before it can be validated. Also a person can only be a member of one party at a time. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]grow the country’s still nascent civil society. In Lithuania where corruption and cronyism is rife in politics, joining a party and making it to the point where you could stand for election is a barrier for many wishing to enter politics.
Court ruling in favor
The Constitutional Court in 2007 declared that the change should go forth, but so far it has not been enabled for local government elections.
“The constitutional court said in 2007 in its resolution that residents should be able to be elected to municipal councils, being included in any non-political party list. The Constitutional Court requires the parliament to adjust the law so that communities, not being members of political parties, could participate in elections,” Degutienė said on radio on Wednesday.
Currently, people aiming for positions in all levels of government need to be affiliated with an existing party or start their own. Under law, to start a party one must collect 1,000 signatures before it can be validated. Also a person can only be a member of one party at a time. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]grow the country’s still nascent civil society. In Lithuania where corruption and cronyism is rife in politics, joining a party and making it to the point where you could stand for election is a barrier for many wishing to enter politics.
Court ruling in favor
The Constitutional Court in 2007 declared that the change should go forth, but so far it has not been enabled for local government elections.
“The constitutional court said in 2007 in its resolution that residents should be able to be elected to municipal councils, being included in any non-political party list. The Constitutional Court requires the parliament to adjust the law so that communities, not being members of political parties, could participate in elections,” Degutienė said on radio on Wednesday.
Currently, people aiming for positions in all levels of government need to be affiliated with an existing party or start their own. Under law, to start a party one must collect 1,000 signatures before it can be validated. Also a person can only be a member of one party at a time. [/private_subscription 1 year]
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