The Post-Communist Transition and Institutionalization of Lithuania's
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THE POST-COMMUNIST TRANSITION AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF LITHUANIAS PARTIES1 Algis Krupavièius Lithuanias transition from a one-party communist state to a multi-party system is a good example of a negotiated revolution. The transition, however, was not linear, but rather phased, with each phase having a different impact on party organization and politics. Three facets of the transition will be examined here: The impact of the general logic of post-communist transition on emerging multi-partyism and on particular parties; The legal and institutional bases of Lithuanias parties; The relation of organizational patterns and party government in the institutionalization of the parties. Lithuanias experience with a competitive party system did not begin in 1990. The historic experience, dating back to the late 19th century, has been relevant to recent developments. That history is the starting point for my discussion here. Historic Roots of Parties and Multi-Partyism in Lithuania Multi-party competition is not a historical novelty in Lithuania. The first political parties emerged here in the late 19th and early 20th century, generally in the same historical period as in most other countries of East Central Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary). The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) was founded in 1896, the Democratic Party (LDP) in 1902, and the Christian Democrats (LChDP) in 1905. Most of these and other parties emerged from various ideological streams within the national liberation movement started at the end of the 1880s. The Lithuanian Council, the political institution that declared Lithuanias independence in 1918, was dominated by party politicians from the moment of its establishment in September of 1917. The LSDP, LChDP, National Progress, Democratic and Socialist Peoples parties were represented in the Council from the outset. The early development of multi-party competition, however, did not promise much political stability. The two year period of 1918 to 1920 saw five cabinet crises 2 Algis Krupavièius brought on by partisan disagreement. It was only after the election of the Constituent Seimas in 1920 that a fully functioning parliamentary democracy came into being, with parties granted legal and practical means to implement their representative function in Lithuanian society. The 1922 Constitution made the parliament responsible for the election of the President and for the appointment of the Cabinet. As a consequence of these legal provisions, parliamentary parties moved to the center of power in the Lithuanian state. The 1919 to 1926 period was one of relatively stable competition between two party blocs. The right wing was dominated by the Christian Democratic coalition; the left wing was led by the Peasant Peoples and Social Democratic parties. The major parties, such as the Christians, Social Democratic, and Peasant Peoples parties, developed broad rank and file memberships that exceeded the numbers found in contemporary Lithuanias leading parties (see Tables 1 and 8). In the 1919-1926 period, the strongest political force was clearly the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, together with its satellite organizations, the Labour Federation and the Farmers Union. This combination held a majority of seats in all parliaments in the period, with the exception of the 3rd Seimas, elected in 1926 (see Table 1). The major competitor to the LChDP was the so- called-Peoples coalition. Initially, it included the Lithuanian Socialist Peoples and Lithuanian Peasants parties. A third major political group was represented, of course, by the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, which overcame the virus of communism in 1918 and 1919. Later the LSDP joined the Left wing coalition led by the social-liberal Peasant Peoples Party. The results of elections to the Constituent Seimas, in 1920, was a bolt from the blue to the National Progress Party (NPP), which had been in a leading position, along with LChDP, in the Lithuanian Council and several Cabinets in 1918 and 1919. During the elections of 1920 the NPP was unable even to get into the Constituent parliament. Moreover, the NPP (in 1924 it was renamed the Lithuanian Nationalists Union LNU) played only role of a minor party during the remaining years of the inter-war parliamentary democracy. The growth and stabilization of the parties and the multi-party system was dramatically reversed after the 1926 coup detat, led by the Nationalist Union. The causes of the coup can be traced to both external and internal conditions. Lithuanias next-door neighbor, Poland, suffered the Pilsudski-led coup in May, 1926. The LNU learned the Polish lesson, despite the hostile relations between the two countries in the 1920s. Democracy in the other neighboring countries was either weak Estonia, Latvia, Weimars Germany or did not exist at all Russia. Yet one cannot attribute the primary causes of the Lithuanian democratic collapse primarily to mere diffusion. Its principal causes were domestic. All conditions that might have been supportive of democracy in Lithuania were clearly underdeveloped in the inter-war period. Democratic culture was a weak and short-lived phenomena; the level of literacy was low; socio-economic development was based predominantly on agriculture. Society in itself was highly conservative and religious (dominated by Roman Catholics). The Transition of Lithuanias Parties Table 1. Parliamentary Democracy and Lithuanias Parties, 1919-1926 Constituent Seimas, 1st Seimas, 2nd Seimas, 3rd Seimas, 1920 1922 1923 1926 Member- % of No of % of No of % of No of % of No of ship votes seats votes seats votes seats votes seats Christian Democratic Bloc: LChDP 28.000 35 24 17 15 14 14 13 14 (1931) Labour Federation 15.000 10 15 12 11 15 12 8 5 (1920) Farmers Union 4000 1 20 12 12 14 14 11 11 Peasants Peoples Alliance: LSPDP* ~33.000 6 9 1 5 18 16 22 22 (1926) LPU* 17 20 17 14 LSDP 3.000 13 13 10 11 11 8 17 15 (1926) LNPP** 13.000 1.7 2.9 2 4 3 (1928) LFP ? 0.4 1.8 2 Others*** 15.9 11 28.1 5 26 14 23.2 13 Total: 112 78 78 85 * LSPDP and LPU founded Lithuanian Peasants Peoples Party in 1922 ** After 1924 Lithuanian Nationalists Union *** Ethnic parties and pro-communist groups. 3 4 Algis Krupavièius The constitutional design of democratic institutions also had its imperfections. The proportional electoral system produced a high level of party fragmentation, leading to unstable majorities in the Seimas. Lithuanian politics was extremely personalized, in addition to hypertrophied partisanship as in case of Czechoslovakia between the two world wars2. The parliaments use of its power over cabinet decision making proved meddlesome. The President was appointed by, accountable to, and controlled by the Seimas. A clear functional separation of powers between the legislature and executive was never implemented or even properly designed in Lithuanian laws in the 1920s. The political behavior of parties, especially of the Christian Democrats, was in many ways completely irresponsible. The LChDP was inclined towards a policy of hardly manageable broad coalitions. Until 1924 it refused to form a single-party government and to take full responsibility for the Cabinets performance, even though it had a parliamentary majority. Imbalances between the centers of power, permanent clashes among political parties, along with the societys inexperience with democracy guided Lithuanias political ship into waters of authoritarian rule. The overheating of the young democracy was finally reached in 1926. The collapse of the competitive multi-party system after the coup detat was not sudden but rather a gradual process. The only party what was banned outright after the LNU came to power was the Communist Party. All other parties survived for shorter or longer period after the coup. The LNU, led by Antanas Smetona, sought initially to preserve a parliamentary form of government. Moreover, the coup leaders needed the tacit support of the Christian Democrats in order to create an impression that the LNU had taken power in a more or less constitutional manner and with the formal approval of the Seimas. This political diplomacy was fruitful for the LNU, and it was able to concentrate power in its hands without major resistance. The only attempt to organize a contra-coup detat by group of LSDP members failed in September 1927. Nevertheless, activities of the LSDP were not prohibited until 1933. All other parties, except the LNU, were banned de facto in November 1935. In 1938 the soft authoritarian rule by the Nationalists came back to policy of tolerance towards a loyal opposition due to increasing international tensions in the Baltics and all Europe. One-party dictatorship was finally introduced only after Lithuanias occupation by the Soviets in 1940. However, after World War II some Lithuanian parties were re-established in exile. In 1948 the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party in exile joined the Christian Democratic International. Two years later, it joined the Union of Christian Democrats of Central Europe. The LSDP in exile took part in activities of the Socialist International. The point I am making is that the traditions of Lithuanian party politics were never wholly stopped or forgotten. Without a doubt, Lithuanias political stage was dominated by the Communist Party for almost fifty years in the 20th century. But former political affiliations and preferences were alive in cultural and social consciousness, at least in some parts of society. A definite sign of this influence was the rapid