After the 1992 parliamentary elections, he became speaker of the parliament and acting President of Lithuania on 25 November 1992. He then won the presidential election with 60 percent of the vote and was confirmed as President on 25 February 1993. He immediately suspended his membership in the Democratic Labour Party; the Constitution does not allow the president to be a formal member of a political party during his tenure. He decided not to seek reelection, and handed the presidency to his successor, Valdas Adamkus, on 25 February 1998.