The 12-member LRT Council will openly vote to appoint the director general for a five-year term and to dismiss him or her. In case of having an equal number of votes in favour and against, the person chairing the LRT sitting would have the final say.
The amendments were backed by 75 MPs to three, with 23 MPs abstaining.
The draft legislation was initiated by MP Eugenijus Gentvilas, chair of the Liberal Movement’s political group.
The amendments also proposed that the LRT Council cannot be composed of not only MPs, members of the Government and the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania. The list was expanded by members of municipal councils and the European Parliament, Inspector of Journalist Ethics and members of the Public Information Ethics Commission.
The new law will take effect on 1 September 2024.
Discussions on the need to revise the procedure for electing the LRT head broke out after two rounds of unsuccessful elections last year.
