Declaration of Independence
Immediately after the first round delegates gathered for semi-formal discussions and consultations. Some of the critical decisions were made during these "tea talks" between the first and second rounds of the election. The Supreme Soviet was to convene as soon as possible and declare independence without delay. The Lithuanians were afraid that during the scheduled assembly of the Congress of People's Deputies on March 12, 1990, Gorbachev would be appointed as the President of the Soviet Union and would gain greater powers within the union. Specifically, Lithuanians feared that Gorbachev would pass a law on secession that would make it virtually impossible to break away from the Soviet Union. At the time of its first gathering on March 10, the final results of the run-off election were not yet available.
During the first session, the delegates elected a commission to verify the election results. As verification was a time consuming process, the Supreme Soviet adjourned until 9 am next morning. On March 11, the Supreme Soviet elected Vytautas Landsbergis, leader of Sąjūdis, as its chairman (91 votes) against Algirdas Brazauskas, leader of CPL, (38 votes). On the same day the Soviet changed its name to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, re-adopted interwar coat of arms, and passed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania (124 votes in favor, 6 abstentions, none opposed). It also abolished Soviet constitutions and re-adopted the Lithuanian Constitution of 1938, the last constitution before the Soviet occupation. It was a symbolic move to emphasize legal continuity of the interwar state as the Constitution of 1938 was suspended minutes later and replaced by the Provisional Fundamental Law, based on the Soviet constitution. Thus Lithuania officially declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
Read more about this topic: Lithuanian Parliamentary Election, 1990
Famous quotes by declaration of independence:
“[The Declaration of Independence] meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“It is an axiom in political science that unless a people are educated and enlightened it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty or the capacity for self-government.”
—Texas Declaration of Independence (March 2, 1836)
“I foresee the time when the painter will paint that scene, no longer going to Rome for a subject; the poet will sing it; the historian record it; and, with the Landing of the Pilgrims and the Declaration of Independence, it will be the ornament of some future national gallery, when at least the present form of slavery shall be no more here. We shall then be at liberty to weep for Captain Brown. Then, and not till then, we will take our revenge.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)