Lithuania’s Social Democratic Party on Sunday won it first parliamentary elections in 12 years as voters turned to the opposition to address soaring disparities in the Baltic nation.
Social Democrats received 19.4 percent of the vote, putting the party in pole position to form the next government, with the ruling conservatives from the Homeland Union a close second at 18 percent, the final results showed.
The first round of voting showed the opposition has successfully tapped into rising discontent among the voters living outside relatively affluent cities like the capital, Vilnius, who have seen their incomes, pensions and social benefits eroded by a period of double-digit inflation.
Photo: Reuters
Income inequality in Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million wedged between Belarus and the Baltic Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, is the second-highest in the EU.
The anti-establishment mood has fueled the rise of an upstart party, the Dawn of Nemunas, whose leader is on trial for making anti-Semitic remarks in his criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza. The party came in third with 15 percent of the vote.
The Social Democrats have pledged to keep the Dawn of Nemunas under Remigijus Zemaitaitis out of potential coalition talks. However, his party might still emerge as a kingmaker, further complicating the Social Democrats’ task as it cobbles together a majority in a fragmented parliament. A total of six parties entered the legislature.
A return to power for the Social Democrats could see Vilija Blinkeviciute, a former social affairs minister, become the prime minister. Currently a lawmaker in the European Parliament, the 64-year-old is credited with raising pensions during her stint in government from 2000 to 2008.
Blinkeviciute said she sees her party building a ruling majority with two other center-left leaning partners of Union of Democrats “For Lithuania” and Lithuania’s Farmers and Greens.
Still, the plans might be complicated by personal animosity between the leaders of the two junior parties that vowed not to work together ahead of the election.
The shift in the political landscape should become clearer after Lithuanians return to choose the remaining half of the country’s legislators in a second round of elections on Oct. 27.
“We still have serious work to do in the second round and we hope for a truly good result,” Blinkeviciute said yesterday. “We hope that after consolidating results in the second round it will be enough to form a coalition of three parties.”
The change of guard is unlikely to affect Lithuania’s position as one of the most vocal critics of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Parties generally agree that the country needs to increase defense spending, currently at 3.2 percent of economic output, to prevent Moscow from potentially challenging NATO borders.
Conflicting demands might leave the next government with some hard fiscal choices. Low pensions and limited coverage of social benefits have driven up poverty and income inequality, the European Commission said in a June report.
The Social Democrats in power could also strengthen Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who was elected for a second term earlier this year and has had frosty relations with the Homeland Union leader, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS