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2nd LD Writethru: Lithuania holds 2nd round of parliamentary elections

Xinhua, October 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Lithuania is holding the second round of parliamentary election on Sunday to elect 68 members of the 141-member unicameral parliament or the Seimas.

More than one third of its eligible voters have cast ballots by 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) in the runoff election.

During the first round held on Oct. 9, 73 other members were elected.

According to Lithuania's Central Electoral Commission (CEC), 34.61 percent of voters, together with early votes, expressed their will in the second round of election by 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).

Gabrielius Landsbergis, leader of the Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), the leading party after the first round of vote, told local media that negotiations on the new coalition may start as early as the night after Sunday's elections.

The current parliament's main conservative opposition party TS-LKD have won 21 seats in the parliament after the first voting, closely followed by the Peasants and Greens Union (LVZS) with 19 seats secured.

However, Ramunas Karbauskis, the leader of LVZS, said he did not intend to "negotiate at night."

"We don't think we are obliged to form a coalition in a night," Karbauskis was quoted as saying by local website delfi.lt.

The CEC must confirm the final voting results, both from the first round on Oct. 9 and the second this Sunday, by Oct. 30. The commission will announce the full list of new members of parliament by Oct. 30.

It is expected that the first meeting of the parliament will take place by November 14 at the latest.

On the same day when the new parliament has its first seating, the current government's power will expire, however, it will remain as a caretaker one until the new government is formed.

The second round of vote starts at 7:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), and lasts till 8:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT).

Lithuania elects 71 members of the 141-seat Seimas in single-seat constituencies.The other 70 MPs are elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide multi-seat constituency. A party needs at least 5 percent of votes to enter the Seimas. For electoral coalitions, the threshold is 7 percent.

The first round of voting decides how elected parties share the 70 seats, while the second round finally shows the results in the 71 single-seat constituencies. Endit