On Wednesday, the committee approved a draft amendment, suggesting that impeached individuals can hold certain positions after the restrictions envisaged in the constitutional law disappear. The draft amendment will now be discussed in parliament, which should approve specific sanctions in relevant laws.
For a new constitutional law to be approved, it requires support of at least 71 of Lithuania's 141 parliamentarians, while amendment of an existing constitutional law requires at least 85 votes.
The decision to propose a minor change to the Constitution is due to the fact that persons can be removed by way of impeachment from several positions, and the different positions may involve different sanctions.
The constitutional amendments are aimed at implementing the decision handed down by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the possibility for impeached persons to enter elections. The court has found that the current life-long ban from parliamentary elections for impeached ex-president Rolandas Paksas is disproportional.
Paksas was ousted from the President's Office in April 2004, following impeachment for violation of his oath of office and gross violation of the Constitution when he granted Lithuanian citizenship to his campaign sponsor Yuri Borisov.
