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VILNIUS, Feb 17, BNS - Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus would be in favor of holding a referendum on dual citizenship and plans to authorize the Seimas to mull in its spring session a new edition of the Citizenship Law, as drafted by his appointed task force.

President's spokeswoman Rita Grumadaite thus informed the press after the president's meeting on Tuesday with Seimas Board members."The president requested the Seimas Board to mull the new draft Citizenship Law so as to vouchsafe a more clear and consistent legal regulation of citizenship, expand and better define cases when a Lithuanian citizen can simultaneously become that of another state. (...) The president would back the Seimas should it decide to hold a referendum and change Article 12 of the Constitution, thus legitimizing dual citizenship for all applicants", Grumadaite spoke.

Legal experts last week presented the president with a draft Citizenship Law drawn up by his appointed task force. The bill provisions a move to introduce and regulate a Lithuanian Charter document by Sept 30 and draft
respective acts of law.

"I would like to remind that the new draft bill provisions that all Lithuanian citizens, who were exiled from Lithuania or left the country on their own will from 1919 to March 11 of 1990, as well as a few generations of their progeny get to retain Lithuanian citizenship. Persons, who for various reasons left Lithuania after March 11 of 1990 and chose to become citizens of another state, automatically lose their Lithuanian citizenship. However, their children, born abroad, retain the right to dual citizenship, i.e. that of Lithuania and another country", Grumadaite explained. Members of the Seimas Board were not unanimous on dual citizenship prospects.

"As we know, there is a joint Seimas commission with the American Lithuanian Community, and, naturally, it is necessary to first sit down with representatives of the emigrant community in order to reach a legal discourse", Deputy Parliamentary Speaker and member of the Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrat Party Irena Degutiene said.

As the emigrant community hasn't yet laid its eyes on the draft bill to go in for consideration, its reactions are grounded on emotions and interpretations, said the MP.

"We will see whether the emigrant community, all of it, finds in favor of the new edition, or, in case something is askew, we can amend it. Should we ail to reach such an agreement, then, of course, we will have to go about it by holding a referendum. This would be the alternative route", Degutiene spoke. She also felt doubtful about the possibility of holding the referendum together with the presidential elections this May and wasn't sure whether the emigre community itself would be in favor of holding one.

In the event that Lithuanians living abroad fail to reach an agreement on the proposed draft piece of legislation, a referendum would be inevitable, said Deputy Seimas Speaker Virginija Baltraitiene of the Labor Party.

Discussions on dual citizenship roused after the Constitutional Court in the fall of 2006 found that the country's main law provides for dual citizenship as rare exceptions, declaring laws allowing dual citizenship as running counter the Constitution.

The said Constitutional Court ruling also underlined that a more liberal procedure for granting dual citizenship would require amending the Constitution, which can only be done via a referendum.

Lithuanians who emigrated after the reestablishment of independence will be granted dual citizenship only by way of exception, says Article 12 of the Constitution, however this issue is of concern to Lithuanians living abroad, as by assuming citizenship of the receiving state, they automatically lose their Lithuanian passport.

The Citizenship Law approved by the Seimas last summer provisioned granting dual citizenship to children of Lithuanian emigrants born abroad and Lithuanian nationals who are acquiring citizenship of countries that have an agreement with Lithuania on double citizenship. Lithuania so far hasn't signed any such agreements with another country.