Freedom Party Laisvės partija | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | LP |
| Chairperson | Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius |
| Vice Chairpeople | Romualdas Bakutis Daniel Ilkevič Deimantė Kačinskienė Vytautas Mitalas Iveta Paludnevičiūtė |
| Founders | Aušrinė Armonaitė,Remigijus Šimašius and others |
| Founded | 1 June 2019 (2019-06-01) |
| Split from | Liberal Movement |
| Membership(2022) | 3,313 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre[A] |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| Colours | Pink and yellow |
| Seimas | 0 / 141 (0%) |
| European Parliament | 1 / 11 (9%) |
| Municipal councils | 12 / 1,473 |
| Mayors | 0 / 60 |
| Website | |
| laisvespartija.lt | |
^ A: It has also been described as acentre-left[3] and as acentre-right party.[4] | |
TheFreedom Party[5][6] (Lithuanian:Laisvės partija) is apolitical party in Lithuania placed in thecentre[2][3][7] on the political spectrum, founded on 1 June 2019 by formerLiberal Movement memberAušrinė Armonaitė. She was leader from 2019 until 2024. Leader since 30 November 2024 isTomas Vytautas Raskevičius.
The party has its roots in Vilnius mayorRemigijus Šimašius's list "ForVilnius, which we are proud of!", which won the Lithuanian capital's council and mayoral election. In November 2018, Aušrinė Armonaitė announced intentions to found a new party.[8]
By the summer and autumn of 2019, the party established its branches in cities and their surrounding municipalities.[9]
The party was accepted as a full member of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in October 2019.[10] The party saw success in2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election and obtained 11 seats. After this, the party formed a coalition with theHomeland Union and Liberal Movement and delegated three ministers - Armonaitė,Ewelina Dobrowolska andMarius Skuodis - to theŠimonytė Cabinet.
On 11 December 2021, the Freedom Party officially became a full member of theALDE Party.[11]
The Freedom Party has been described asliberal,[1][2]neoliberal,[12]social liberal,[13] andlibertarian.[14]
The party supportsLGBT rights,[18] the legalisation of same-sex unions in Lithuania,[14] and has a goal to remove restrictions on the personal use ofcannabis in Lithuania.[14]
In regards to economics, the party is extremelyeconomically liberal and advocates for policies such as cutting taxes and loosening the labour code.[19]
The party supportsEuropean integration and recognizing the statehood ofTaiwan (Republic of China) as a country separate from thePeople's Republic of China, and is strongly opposed to Russian aggression inUkraine.[20] It supports theEuropean Green Deal.[21]
Within theŠimonytė Cabinet, it criticized its coalition partners, namely theHomeland Union and theLiberal Movement, for insufficient adherence toprogressivism, as well as their "left-wing tax policy".[22]
| Election | Leader | Votes[a] | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Aušrinė Armonaitė | 107,057 | 9.45 (#5) | 11 / 141 | New | Coalition |
| 2024 | 55,845 | 4.62 (#7) | 0 / 141 |  11 | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Dainius Žalimas | 54,797 | 8.10 (#4) | 1 / 11 |  1 | RE |
| Parliamentarian | Previous mandate | Current mandate from | Constituency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artūras Žukauskas | - | 2020 | Nationwide |
| Aušrinė Armonaitė | 2016 | 2020 | Lithuanians abroad |
| Ewelina Dobrowolska | - | 2020 | Nationwide |
| Ieva Pakarklytė | - | 2020 | Nationwide |
| Kasparas Adomaitis | - | 2020 | Nationwide |
| Marius Matijošaitis | - | 2020 | Savanoriai |
| Monika Ošmianskienė | - | 2020 | Nationwide |
| Morgana Danielė | - | 2020 | Nationwide |
| Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius | - | 2020 | Nationwide |
| Vytautas Mitalas | - | 2020 | Nationwide |
...conservative-liberal Liberal Movement, and centre/centre-left Freedom Party when it came to power in 2020.
[...] the centre-right parties (TS-LKD, LP, LRLS) voted into the Seimas were reluctant to address the issue of coalition formation.
[...] and two centrist groups, the Freedom Party and Liberal Movement.
Lithuania's young people turned against the ruling party and voted massively for the surprise start-up of these elections, the libertarian Freedom Party (LP), which has openly declared its support for same-sex unions, the reduction of penalties for the possession of marijuana for personal use, and a commitment to remove restrictions in general.
As for the coalition partners, I see that the Homeland Union is still looking for itself. On the one hand, rather left-wing tax policy and narratives, on the other - a strong and growing Christian Democrat wing... As for the Liberal Movement, on the one hand, there is a very clear liberal part of the faction, but at the same time, a very conservative and even Christian Democrat part of the Liberal Movement faction in the Seimas. It influences decisions and possibly prevents the implementation of a progressive agenda. In turn, the Freedom Party can be said to be a political force that consistently represents its political position and program.
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