Lithuanian elections: Social Democrats in the lead
The Social Democrats have emerged as the winners of the first round of the Lithuanian parliamentary elections. With over 19 percent of the vote they have a narrow lead against the ruling Conservative Party with its 18 percent. The newly founded left-wing populist Nemuno Aušra came third with 15 percent. The final distribution of seats in the Seimas will only be clear after the second round of voting on 27 October, when most of the direct mandates are allocated.
Strong centre - an exception in Europe
Extremist parties have rarely met with success in Lithuania, political scientist Ramūnas Vilpišauskas explains in 15min:
“Lithuania is an exception in Europe because the centre is holding its own. Unlike in recent parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, France and Austria (or the state elections in Germany), there was no breakthrough for far-right or far-left parties in Lithuania. Nemuno Aušra did well, as predicted in the polls, but lagged behind the traditional centre-left and centre-right parties - and will fall even further behind in the second round of the elections. As has happened so many times before, the centre and opposition parties will swap places after these elections.”
An antisemitic left
Neatkarīgā takes a closer look at the new populist party Nemuno Aušra, which has had a successful launch in these elections. It positions itself as centre-left and Christian but has attracted attention with anti-Jewish statements:
“This party is a political group founded by former Seimas MP Remigijs Žemaitaitis just a few months ago. A year ago, Žemaitaitis became 'famous' after posting antisemitic statements on his Facebook page in which he accused Jews of committing genocide against the Lithuanians during the Soviet era. .. It seems that political groups representing radical left-wing positions are emerging in every country at the moment. Unfortunately, they have no shortage of supporters.”
Regional preferences in a small country
Lithuanian urbanist Alexander Larin explains the political geography of his country in Novaya Gazeta Europe:
“The first round of elections divided Lithuania into four large sectors. The historical region of Samogitia in the north-west of the republic, characterised by villages and small towns, favoured the newly founded left-wing populist party Nemuno Aušra. The south-east, including the Vilnius region, voted as usual for the Lithuanian Poles party which represents the interests of the Polish minority in Lithuania. The three largest cities and industrial centres, Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda, voted for the Conservatives, while the remaining districts backed the Social Democrats.”