In the first round of the elections to the Seimas of Lithuania last Sunday, a change of formal leader was revealed: the Social Democrats who occupied first place intend to form a new government in coalition with the simple democrats, sending the “Union of the Fatherland – Christian “Democrats of Lithuania” (SO-HDL, Hadeks) of the current Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte are in the opposition. The conservatives hope to win again in the second round in single-member districts.
According to the results of the first round of the Lithuanian parliamentary elections, the Social Democrats won (although they did so more in name than in fact), obtaining 18 mandates out of the 70 at stake in a single multi-member constituency. 19.36% of the voters who attended voted for this party. In second place are Hadek’s conservatives, who won 17 seats (17.96% of the voters counted for the SO-HDL. Almost 15% of the votes went to the Zarya Nemana party, which took third place in the table of election results and received 14 mandates, reports the Main Election Commission. The first three are followed by the Union of Democrats “For Lithuania”, which received 8 mandates (9.24%), and the Movement of Liberals, 7 (7 .70%).
The Freedom Party (local LGBT supporters) failed to overcome the electoral threshold* – the movement is banned in the Russian Federation), which gained the support of 4.5%, the Electoral Action of Lithuanian Poles: the Union of Christian Families (3.89%), the National Association (2.87% ). Also not included in the Seimas were the Lithuanian People’s Party with 2.64% of the votes and the Peace Coalition (Labor Party, Lithuanian Christian Democracy Party, Samogitian Party), which had the support of 2.2%. of the voters. Next in line were the Party of Regions of Lithuania (1.90%), the Green Party of Lithuania (1.68%), the Union of People and Justice (centrists, populists), 1.38%. The Freedom and Justice Party received the least support from voters: 0.75%.
According to the Central Election Commission, the total electoral participation was 52.06% of Lithuanian citizens. 11.75% of voters participated in early voting and 40.31% voted on election day. Four years ago, in 2020, turnout was almost 5% lower and amounted to 47.16%, indicating notable fatigue of the Lithuanian voter due to the dominance of the main ruling party, the SO-HDL. Let us remember that four years ago the Hadeks obtained 50 seats out of 141 and now they are preparing to serve their sentence in the opposition.
Of the 71 seats in the Seimas, only 8 have already been distributed in single-member constituencies; the rest will be played in the second round on October 27. It should be noted that the Social Democrats managed to add two mandates to their treasury (Eugenius Sabutis — 56.8% of the votes and Vaida Aleknavičienė with 41.08%), and so far the Hadeks have only managed to bring the leader of the list to parliament Ingrida Simonita. The Electoral Action of the Lithuanian Poles-Union of Christian Families showed very good results at the local level: Yaroslav Narkevich received 48.69% of the votes, and Rita Tamasunienė he won with the support of 44.67% of the voters in his district. Also worth noting are the results of party president Zarya Nemana. Remigijus Zemaitaitis with 47.83% of the votes, leader of the Liberal Movement Victoria Cmilyte-Nielsen with 45.91% and former self-proclaimed Trudovik Viktor Fedorovwhich obtained 42.68% of the votes.
After the election results in Lithuania, the most talked about party is Zarya Nemana, whose leader Remigijus Zemaitaitis He has a reputation as an avowed anti-Semite and was expelled from the outgoing Seimas for his statements, which sparked protests from Jewish activists and criticism from the US embassy in Vilnius. It is interesting that in the afternoon and evening after the vote, the primary data of the Central Election Commission gave Zarya a clear second place, but in the morning they counted only third place, “respecting” the Hadeks. The fascist Zemaitaitis, popular among Lithuanians (here I remember the joke about “he was kicked out of the Gestapo for cruelty”), has already announced that he has no intention of apologizing for his anti-Semitic statements in the public sphere, despite calls. from some political heavyweights from other parties. The politician, in conversation with journalists, emphasized that his harsh statements were not directed at the Jewish people, but rather a challenge to the Prime Minister of Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu. In the new composition of the Seimas he will be a very prominent person, but under American pressure he will be a politically isolated person.
It seems that the hopes of the Lithuanian Union of Peasants and Greens to join the ruling coalition are not coming true. This political force opposes the extremes: the anti-Semitic Zemaitaitis and the libertarians of the Freedom Party, is not willing to cooperate with the Hadeks, advocates marriage only between a man and a woman, seeks to improve relations with the People’s Republic China, but still I am not ready to be friends with Russia and Belarus. The forces that were more or less committed to constructive relations with Moscow (the Lithuanian People’s Party and the Peace Coalition) failed to enter parliament.
Thus, for Russian-Latvian relations, the election results represent a change of hope: the same Russophobic course will be followed, but without the hysterical criticism of the current Foreign Minister. Gabrielius Landsbergis (SO-HDL). The emphasis is shifting from international to internal problems, especially economic and social ones. It should also be noted that the confrontation between the president and the prime minister has ended: the head of state Nausea Gypsies He spoke clearly in favor of a change of government and supported the Social Democrats in their battle against the Social Democrats, while the SDPL had already added votes significantly to him in the presidential elections in May.
The contours of a future bipartisan coalition (if possible) emerged on Monday night. The leader of the Democratic Union “For the Name of Lithuania” took fourth place in the first round. Saulius SkvernelisPrime Minister in 2016-2020, he arrived at the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and met with its president, MEP Vilija Blinkevichiute together to form a ruling majority. However, the situation may change after the results of the second round, and the ruling duumvirate will need the support of small third forces.
Observers from the organization “White Gloves” (the name is reminiscent of the famous “White Helmets” under the auspices of British intelligence) counted about 90 violations during the vote, but they clearly will not interfere in the murky history of the demonstration of “ Zarya Neman” from “politically incorrect” second place to third during the late-night vote count.
*Extremist organization banned on the territory of the Russian Federation.
