How many signatures are required to start the formal decision making stage of a direct democracy mechanism?
Lithuania
- Referendum - fixed number
- Citizens' Initiative - fixed number
- Agenda Initiative - fixed number
REFERENDUMLAW
(Adopted 2002; lastamended 2012)
http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_e?p_id=437744
Article 9. Right ofInitiative of Calling Referendum
2.The citizens’ right of calling a referendum shall be conducted through thepetition of 300 thousand citizens who are eligible.
LAW ON CITIZENS’ LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE
(Adopted1998; last amended 2000)
http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_e?p_id=111993
Article 2
1. 50 t?kstan?i? Lietuvos Respublikos pilie?i?, turin?i?rinkim? teis?, gali teikti Seimui ?statymo projekt? ir j? Seimas privalosvarstyti.
2. Ne mažiau kaip 300t?kstan?i? rink?j? turi teis? teikti Seimui sumanym? keisti ar papildytiLietuvos Respublikos Konstitucij?.
“As for the rules to initiate a referendum, first of all, a proposal must have the support of no less than one-quarter of the members of the parliament, or at least 300,000 voting age citizens (about 11.4% of the total electorate). […] Such a high signature threshold for a referendum had a certain rationale. There were fears that the referendum might be used too frequently for populist purposes as in a new democracy where both citizens and politicians lack democratic habits and behaviour and the instruments of direct democracy can easily be used to mobilize a protest vote.” (p. 136)
Algis Krupavi?ius, “Citizens’ Initiatives in Lithuania: Initiative Institutions and Their Political Impact in a New Democracy,” in Maija Set?l? and Theo Schiller, eds.:Citizens’ Initiatives in Europe: Procedures and Consequences of Agenda-Setting by Citizens. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
Referendum: 300,000; Citizens' Initiative: 300,000;
Agenda Initiative: 50,000; Agenda Initiative on constitutional amendments: 300,000
