View source for President of Lithuania

{{Short description|Head of state of Lithuania}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Expand Lithuanian|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = President
| body = the Republic of Lithuania
| native_name = {{lang|lt|Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas}}
| flag = Flag of the President of Lithuania.svg{{!}}border
| flagsize = 
| flagcaption = [[Flag of Lithuania|Presidential standard]]
| insignia = Coat of arms of the President of Lithuania (2).svg
| insigniasize = 
| insigniacaption = [[Coat of arms of Lithuania|Presidential coat of arms]]
| image = Gitanas Nausėda in 2024.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| incumbent = [[Gitanas Nausėda]]
| incumbentsince = 12 July 2019
| type = [[Executive president]]<br />[[Head of state]]
| style = [[President (government title)|Mr. President]]<br />{{small|(informal)}}<br />[[Commander-in-chief]]<br />{{small|(military)}}<br />[[Excellency|His Excellency]]<br />{{small|(diplomatic)}}
| member_of = [[European Council]]
| residence = [[Presidential Palace, Vilnius]]
| appointer = [[Direct election]]
| termlength = Five years,
| termlength_qualified = renewable once consecutively
| constituting_instrument = [[Constitution of Lithuania]]
| formation = {{start date and age|df=y|1919|4|4}}
| abolished = [[Occupation of the Baltic states|1940–1990]]
| inaugural = [[Antanas Smetona]]
| deputy = [[List of speakers of the Seimas|Speaker of the Seimas]]
| salary = €119,460<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lrp.lt/data/public/uploads/2023/01/info_du_2022_4-ketv.pdf|title=INFORMACIJA APIE DARBO UŽMOKESTĮ Valstybės tarnautojų ir darbuotojų, dirbančių pagal darbo sutartis, vidutinis nustatytasis (paskirtasis) darbo užmokestis|website=lrp.lt}}</ref> (annual, brutto)
| website = {{URL|www.lrp.lt}}
}}
{{Politics of Lithuania}}

The '''president of the Republic of Lithuania''' ({{langx|lt|Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas}}) is the [[head of state]] of the [[Lithuania|Republic of Lithuania]]. The president directs and appoints the executive branch of the [[Government of Lithuania]], represents the nation internationally and is the [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[Lithuanian Armed Forces]]. The president is directly elected by the [[Lithuanians|citizens of Lithuania]] for a five-year term, with the office holder limited to serving two terms consecutively. The current president is [[Gitanas Nausėda]] who assumed office on July 12, 2019.

==Eligibility==
To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 40 years old on the election day and reside in Lithuania for at least three years, in addition to satisfying the eligibility criteria for a member of the parliament. A person who has been removed from office through impeachment for breach of constitution or an oath of office may not be elected as a president.<ref name="PresidentLaw">{{cite web |url=http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=1040824 |title=Law on Presidential Elections |date= 14 May 2015 |publisher=The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania |access-date=31 July 2015}}</ref>

==Powers==
The Lithuanian president has somewhat more executive authority than their counterparts in neighboring [[president of Estonia|Estonia]] and [[president of Latvia|Latvia]]; the Lithuanian president's function is very similar to that of the presidents of [[President of France|France]] and [[President of Romania|Romania]]. Similarly to them, but unlike presidents in a fully presidential system such as [[President of the United States|the United States]], the Lithuanian president 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. The president 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 (Lithuania)|Chief of Defence]] (subject to Seimas consent).<ref name="Powers">[https://www.lrp.lt/en/institution/presidential-functions/35145 Presidential Functions | President of the Republic of Lithuania]</ref>

The president also has a significant role in domestic policy, possessing the right to submit bills to the [[Seimas]] and to [[veto]] laws passed by it, appointing the [[Prime Minister of Lithuania|prime minister]] and approving the government formed by them, and also having the right to [[Dissolution of Parliament|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.<ref name="Constitution">[https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.21892?jfwid=-wd7z8ivg5 Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania - Seimas site]</ref>

Finally, the president ensures an effective judiciary, being responsible for nominating one third of the judges of the [[Constitutional Court of Lithuania|Constitutional Court]], and the entirety of the [[Supreme Court of Lithuania|Supreme Court]], for appointment by the Seimas; the president also has the right to directly appoint all other judges.

==Election==
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.<ref>[http://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3146/ Lithuania: Election for President] IFES</ref> 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.<ref name="Constitution" />

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.

==List of presidents==
{{Further|List of heads of state of Lithuania}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! {{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! Portrait
! Name<br />{{small|(Birth–Death)}}
! Elected
! Took office
! Left office 
! Affiliation/notes
|-
! colspan=7| {{small|President of the Republic of Lithuania}}
|-
! 1
| [[File:Antanas Smetona 2.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Antanas Smetona]]'''<br />{{small|(1874–1944)}}
| 1919
| 4 April 1919
| 19 June 1920
| First president of the Republic of Lithuania.
|-
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=7 | ''Chairman of the Constituent Assembly [[Aleksandras Stulginskis]] served as acting president from 19 June 1920 to 21 December 1922.''
|-
! 2
| [[File:Aleksandras Stulginskis (1885-1969).jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Aleksandras Stulginskis]]'''<br />{{small|(1885–1969)}}
| 1922
| 21 December 1922
| 7 June 1926
|
|-
! 3
| [[File:Kazys Grinius.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Kazys Grinius]]''' <br />{{small|(1866–1950)}}
| 1926
| 7 June 1926
| 18 December 1926
| Last democratically elected president of the Republic of Lithuania during the [[interwar period]].
|-
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=7 | ''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)
| [[File:Antanas Smetona 2.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Antanas Smetona]]'''<br />{{small|(1874–1944)}}
| 1926
| 19 December 1926
| 15 June 1940
| Undemocratically elected [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] leader serving as head of state until [[Occupation of the Baltic states|Lithuania's occupation by the Soviet Union]] in 1940.
|-
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=7 | ''Following the [[Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)|Soviet occupation]] but before [[Sovietization of the Baltic states|its incorporation into the Soviet Union]] as the [[Lithuanian SSR]], Prime Minister [[Antanas Merkys]] served as acting president until [[Justas Paleckis]] was installed by the Soviets three days later.''
|-
! colspan="7" | {{small|Position abolished under the [[Lithuanian SSR]] during the [[Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)|Soviet occupation]] of 1940–1990}}
|-
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=7 | ''[[Brigadier general|General]] [[Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas|Jonas Žemaitis]] was posthumously recognised as acting president from 16 February 1949 to 26 November 1954.''
|-
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=7 | ''[[Colonel]] [[Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas|Adolfas Ramanauskas]] was posthumously recognised as acting president from 26 November 1954 to 29 November 1957.''
|-
! colspan="7" | {{small|Following the [[Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania|re-establishment of independence]] in 1990, position remained abolished under the [[Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas|Provisional Basic Law]] until re-established by the [[Constitution of Lithuania]] in 1992.}}
|-
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=7 | ''Speaker of the Seimas [[Algirdas Brazauskas]] served as acting president from 25 November 1992 to 25 February 1993.''
|-
! 4
| [[File:Algirdas Mykkolas Brazauskas, Litauens statsminster, under det Nordiskt-Baltiska statsministermotet i Reykjavik 2005-10-24.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Algirdas Brazauskas]]'''<br />{{small|(1932–2010)}}
| [[1993 Lithuanian presidential election|1993]]
| 25 February 1993 
| 25 February 1998
| First directly elected president of the Republic of Lithuania.
|-
! 5
| [[File:Valdas Adamkus portretas (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Valdas Adamkus]]'''<br />{{small|(born 1926)}}
| [[1997–98 Lithuanian presidential election|1997–98]]
| 26 February 1998
| 26 February 2003
|
|-
! 6
| [[File:Rolandas Paksas EU.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Rolandas Paksas]]'''<br />{{small|(born 1956)}}
| [[2002–03 Lithuanian presidential election|2002–03]]
| 26 February 2003
| 6 April 2004
| Impeached and removed from office.
|-
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=7 | ''Speaker of the Seimas [[Artūras Paulauskas]] served as acting president from 6 April to 12 July 2004.''
|-
! (5)
| [[File:BDF Summit 2010.06.01 587 (4709180104) (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Valdas Adamkus]]'''<br />{{small|(born 1926)}}
| [[2004 Lithuanian presidential election|2004]]
| 12 July 2004
| 12 July 2009
|
|-
! 7
| [[File:Dalia_Grybauskaitė,_Member_of_the_EC.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Dalia Grybauskaitė]]'''<br />{{small|(born 1956)}}
| [[2009 Lithuanian presidential election|2009]]<br />[[2014 Lithuanian presidential election|2014]]
| 12 July 2009
| 12 July 2019 
| [[List of the first women holders of political offices in Europe|First female]] president of Lithuania. Became the first president to be reelected. 
|-
! 8
| [[File:Gitanas Nauseda crop.png|75px]]
| '''[[Gitanas Nausėda]]'''<br />{{small|(born 1964)}}
| [[2019 Lithuanian presidential election|2019]]<br />[[2024 Lithuanian presidential election|2024]]
| 12 July 2019
| Incumbent
|
|}

==See also==
* [[List of heads of state of Lithuania]]
* [[List of speakers of the Seimas|Speaker of the Seimas]]
* [[Presidential Palace, Vilnius]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Heads of state of the European Union member states}}
{{Heads of state and government of Europe}}

[[Category:Presidents of Lithuania|*]]