Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats Tėvynės sąjunga – Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | TS–LKD |
| Chairman | Laurynas Kasčiūnas |
| First deputy chair | Paulius Saudargas |
| Deputy chairpersons | Valdas Benkunskas Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė Gintarė Skaistė Kazys Starkevičius Justinas Urbanavičius |
| Executive secretary | Martynas Prievelis |
| Founders | Vytautas Landsbergis Gediminas Vagnorius |
| Founded | 1 May 1993 (1993-05-01) |
| Preceded by | Sąjūdis |
| Headquarters | J. Jasinskio g. 17,Vilnius |
| Youth wing | Young Conservative League |
| Membership(2022) |  12,819[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right[8] |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party Group |
| International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International (observer) International Democrat Union (formerly) |
| Colours | Blue Turquoise (since 2020)[9] |
| Seimas | 28 / 141 |
| European Parliament | 3 / 11 |
| Municipal councils | 279 / 1,461 |
| Mayors | 3 / 60 |
| Website | |
| tsajunga.lt | |
TheHomeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (Lithuanian:Tėvynės sąjunga – Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai,TS–LKD), also colloquially known as theConservatives (Lithuanian:Konservatoriai), is acentre-right[5][6][7]political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 members and 28 of 141 seats in theSeimas. Its current leader isLaurynas Kasčiūnas following the resignation ofGabrielius Landsbergis in 2024 after the party's loss in therecent election. It is a member of theEuropean People's Party (EPP).
Since 1996, the party has included thewestern house martin in its variouslogos over the years.[10][11]
It is the main centre-right party, and has been traditionally allied to other centre-right or liberal parties such as theLiberals' Movement,Freedom Party,Liberal and Centre Union or theNational Resurrection Party with which they are usually grouped together[12][13][14] and formed coalitions in the past.
The Homeland Union isconservative.[15][16] For most of its existence, it has explicitly defined itself asanti-communist (mainly because the main opposition party to the Homeland Union was theDemocratic Labour Party of Lithuania, which was created from theCommunist Party of Lithuania in 1990), with an ideology influenced byliberal conservatism,[2]Christian democracy,[17] andnationalism.[18][19] TS–LKD iseconomically liberal,[3] supports afree market economy[20] and was described asneo-liberal.[21]
After the election of Gabrielius Landsbergis as leader of the party in 2015 (especially after 2017), the Homeland Union started to describe itself as the country's people's party (Lithuanian:žmonių partija) and moved more to a centrist direction, rebranding itself as a European moderate party, while still maintainingcentre-right profile (especially on economics).
It was founded in May 1993 by the right wing of theReform Movement of Lithuania, led byVytautas Landsbergis, who had led Lithuania to independence. His supporter, formerPrime Minister of LithuaniaGediminas Vagnorius, became party Board's chairman. Some members of Sąjūdis coalition, but not Sąjūdis itself (e. g.Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė), joined new party. The party was established by the model of then–ruling conservative parties' –United States Republican Party,United Kingdom Conservative Party andModerate Party.
In December 1993, the party's youth wing, Young Conservative League, was formed. In February 1994, the Homeland Union formed its own parliamentary group in Seimas.[22] Later that year, the Homeland Union established its branches in all of Lithuania. In the 1995 municipal election, in which the party stood for the first time, it got 28.76% of the vote and returned 428 councillors. In the1996 national elections, it secured 31.3% of the vote and returned 70 deputies to theSeimas. After these elections, the party formedcoalition government with theLithuanian Christian Democratic Party (and received support from theLithuanian Centre Union).[23]
Afterpresidential election of 1997 and 1998, in which Vytautas Landsbergis came third, party's internal conflicts became pronounced. It led to the expulsion ofLaima Liucija Andrikienė andVidmantas Žiemelis from the party's board in late 1998 and their resignation from the party in 1999.
In 1999, conflicts started between the PresidentValdas Adamkus and the Prime MinisterGediminas Vagnorius (who also was the party's Board chairman), that involved party's leader Vytautas Landsbergis. Crisis (and resignation of Vagnorius) sped up reorganisation of party structures. Most important of them was the merger of the Political Council and the Board, which produced centralized leadership. In 2000, Gediminas Vagnorius' supporters split and new party called theUnion of Moderate Conservatives was formed.[24]
Yet another split was caused by the resignation ofRolandas Paksas (he replaced Gediminas Vagnorius as the Prime Minister and party's Board chairman), although most of the Rolandas Paksas' supporters moved to theLiberal Union of Lithuania in 1999 and 2000. In 2000 municipal elections, the party received just 8.8 per cent of the vote ant mayorships of Kaunas and other districts.
In 2000, the Homeland Union was reduced to 8.6 per cent of votes and 9 deputies.[24] In 2001, idea of merge of all right wing parties was proposed by the Homeland People's Party. This proposal was accepted by the Homeland Union. In 2003 and 2004, it merged with theRight Union of Lithuania (which by itself was founded by former members of the Homeland Union and various minor parties) and theLithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees respectively.[25][26] At the same time, the party attracted members from LithuanianSocial Democracy 2000 (e.g. Rimantas Jonas Dagys) andModern Christian-Democratic Union (e. g. Egidijus Vareikis).
In May 2003, a new leader was elected,Andrius Kubilius, who prior this served as deputy leader of the party. Since 2003, the party started cooperating with theLiberal and Centre Union. The Homeland Union changed its logo (theColumns of Gediminids were replaced by green marlin's silhouette, which was similar to the logo used by the time of 1996 parliamentary election campaign, in which Kubilius was author of programme).
After Lithuania's admission to theEuropean Union in 2004, it won two seats in theelection to the European Parliament, one of whom wasVytautas Landsbergis, who sat in theEPP-ED Group. At the2004 election to the Seimas, the party won 14.6% of the popular vote and 25 out of 141 seats. After these elections, the Homeland Union proposed the Liberal and Centre Union a coalition with theSocial Democratic Party of Lithuania, but this didn't came to being.[27] Between 2006 and 2007, the party supportedGediminas Kirkilas-led government.
Until the merger with theLithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees and the Right Union of Lithuania, it was known just as theHomeland Union (Lithuanian Conservatives). Prior to 2008 it was known as theHomeland Union (Conservatives, Political Prisoners and the Exiled, Christian Democrats) orTS. The last change of the name was a result of the merger with theLithuanian Nationalist Union on 11 March 2008, and theLithuanian Christian Democrats on 17 May 2008, after which theHomeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats became Lithuania's largest party with more than 18,000 members. After these two mergers, youth wings of these parties (Young Nationalists Organisation andYoung Christian Democrats) became the Homeland Union's youth wings.
During 2006 to 2008, the Homeland Union supported theStatesmen (Lithuanian:"valstybininkai") conspiracy theory, which claims that adeep state in theMinistry of Foreign Affairs and theState Security Department of Lithuania (VSD) seeks to take control of the country.[28] According toAntanas Valionis, the party interpreted state security investigations into previous unexplained incidents, such as theBražuolė bridge bombing in 1994 and the bombing of the editorial office ofLietuvos rytas in 1995, as a conspiracy against them.[29]
At the2008 legislative election, the Homeland Union won 19.69 per cent of the national vote and 45 seats in theSeimas. Becoming the largest party in the Seimas, it formed a coalition government with theLiberal Movement,Liberal and Centre Union and theNational Resurrection Party. Together, they held a majority of 80 out of 141 seats in the Seimas, and the Homeland Union's leader,Andrius Kubilius, becamePrime Minister for a second time.[30]
In 2010, party's deputy chairmanVidmantas Žiemelis resigned from the party and joinedChristian Party. It (along with the split in theNational Resurrection Party parliamentary group) causedKubilius–led government to become a minority one.
In June 2011, theLithuanian Nationalist Union declared its withdrawal from the party, although Nationalist faction remained in the Homeland Union.[31] In June 2012,Aurelija Stancikienė resigned from the party and joined theWay of Courage.
Support for the party decreased in the 2012 parliamentary election, and it was excluded from the government.[32] It was credited to many unpopular decisions made during the time of government, and the unpopularity of the Andrius Kubilius.[33] In the2014 European Parliament election, the party managed to defeat by narrow margin their main competitors, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania. After 2015 municipal election, Andrius Kubilius resigned from party's leader position.
Subsequent leadership election was won by theMember of European Parliament (and former advisor of Andrius Kubilius)Gabrielius Landsbergis. Gabrielius Landsbergis initiated various changes in the party. Main change was that in large cities candidates to the Seimas were replaced with younger candidates, while older candidates moved rural constituencies (e. g.Rasa Juknevičienė stood inAukštaitija single-member constituency instead of one inŽaliakalnis) or removed altogether (e. g.Arimantas Dumčius was expelled for remarks overAdolf Hitler's economic policy).[34][35]
Between 2014 and 2016, the party was competing on the centre-right political wing with the Liberal Movement, but due to the so-called MG Baltic corruption scandal in May 2016, the Liberal Movement lost about half of its support.[36] As a result of the scandal, the Homeland Union's support slightly increased at the2016 legislative election (and it overtook theLithuanian Peasant and Greens Union by 0.18 per cent), but, due to failure to win more single-member seats in Seimas, the number of seats held by the party fell to 31.
After these elections, various pundits claimed that the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union could form coalition with the Homeland Union,[37] but leader of Lithuanian Farmers and Greens UnionRamūnas Karbauskis proposed wide coalition between aforementioned parties and the Social Democratic Party. The Homeland Union's leader Gabrielius Landsbergis himself proposed coalition between the Homeland Union, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and theLiberal Movement, although both Ramūnas Karbauskis and Liberal Movement's leaderEugenijus Gentvilas turned down this offer.[38] Eventually, coalition was formed between the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, which lasted until the autumn of 2017.
After Landsbergisreelection as party's leader in 2017,primaries were introduced for candidates to the presidential nominees and party list in parliamentary election.[39][40]
In 2018,Mantas Adomėnas's membership in the party was suspended due to relations of MG Baltic and Adomėnas himself. Later, Adomėnas left Homeland Union's parliamentary group and the party itself.[41][42] By autumn of 2018, the party held presidential primaries (the first party in Lithuania to do so), which were won byIngrida Šimonytė. Šimonytė's performance in2019 presidential election raised possibility about her nomination to the first place on party's list and as the future Prime Minister.[43]
In 2020, members of the Homeland Union,Rimantas Dagys andEgidijus Vareikis formed new party, theChristian Union.
In2020 parliamentary election the party won the most seats (50) and agreed to form coalition with the Liberal Movement and theFreedom Party. In November 2020,Ingrida Šimonytė became the new Prime Minister of a Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats-led coalition.[44]
In2023 municipal elections Homeland Union managed to win a mayorship of Vilnius (for the first time since 2011), but lost mayorships and majorities in rural councils. In2024 presidential election Ingrida Šimonytė was selected as candidate from the party, but she lost incumbent President of Republic Gitanas Nausėda.[45]
In the parliamentary election of the same year, Homeland Union won 18.35 per cent of the vote, but won just 28 seats due to poor performance in single-member constituencies. Gabrielius Landsbergis announced his resignation as leader of the Homeland Union and as member of thenext Seimas. His vice,Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, replacing him as interim leader. It triggerednew leadership election in 2025.[46]
During the 1990s, the party was strong in urban areas withPanevėžys andKaunas being its strongholds.[47] It could explained by national composition in these urban areas (Lithuanians in 2001 census made up 95 and 92 per cent of population respectively). In rural areas the party was strongest inAlytus andLazdijai districts.[48][49] Although the party lost two-thirds of its support nationwide during 1997 and 2000, these areas remained supportive to the party up until early 2010s. The one exception would bePasvalys district, where the party managed to obtain over 20 per cent of the vote in 2000 municipal elections.[50]
After the 2008 merger with Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Homeland Union gained support fromMolėtai district, which was stronghold of Lithuanian Christian Democrats. In early 2010s with the rise of public election committees the Homeland Union lost support in Panevėžys and Kaunas. In return, due to internal migration andsuburbanisation, the party gained support inVilnius area (notable example,Naujoji Vilnia).[51]
First faction to be established within the party was Christian Democrats' faction in 2003. Since then (mainly due to mergers with other parties) new factions were established.
The party currently is split into factions, which are based by former parties:
| Election | Leader | Votes[a] | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Vytautas Landsbergis | 409,585 | 31.34 (#1) | 70 / 141 | New | Coalition |
| 2000 | 126,850 | 8.62 (#5) | 9 / 141 |  61 | Opposition | |
| 2004 | Andrius Kubilius | 176,409 | 14.75 (#2) | 25 / 141 | 16 | Opposition |
| 2008 | 243,823 | 19.72 (#1) | 45 / 141 | 20 | Coalition | |
| 2012 | 206,590 | 15.75 (#3) | 33 / 141 | 12 | Opposition | |
| 2016 | Gabrielius Landsbergis | 276,275 | 22.63 (#2) | 31 / 141 | 2 | Opposition |
| 2020 | 292,124 | 25.77 (#1) | 50 / 141 | 19 | Coalition | |
| 2024 | 224,026 | 18.35 (#2) | 28 / 141 | 22 | Opposition |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Vytautas Landsbergis | 151,400 | 12.58 (#3) | 2 / 13 | New | EPP-ED |
| 2009 | 147,756 | 26.86 (#1) | 4 / 12 | 2 | EPP | |
| 2014 | Gabrielius Landsbergis | 199,393 | 17.43 (#1) | 2 / 11 | 2 | |
| 2019 | Liudas Mažylis | 248,736 | 19.74 (#1) | 3 / 11 | 1 | |
| 2024 | Andrius Kubilius | 144,525 | 21.33 (#1) | 3 / 11 |  0 |
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)[permanent dead link][...] the centre-right parties (TS-LKD, LP, LRLS) voted into the Seimas were reluctant to address the issue of coalition formation.
Opinion polls indicate that LiCS is losing popularity and will not pass the electoral threshold of 5%, as along with the other centre-right parties except for the Conservatives.
On Monday night, after the votes were counted, the leaders of the four centre right parties (TS-LKDP, Liberal and Centre Union, Liberal Movement and Rising Nation) gathered for talks.
A.Valionis savo veikale samprotauja, esą „konservatorių kampaniją prieš vadinamuosius valstybininkus" galėjo paskatinti 2000–2006 metais vykusios verslo grupių kovos, ypač energetikos sektoriuje, taip pat VSD siekis ištirti tilto per Bražuolę susprogdinimo aplinkybes ir su tuo esą susijusią VSD karininko Juro Abromavičiaus žūtį. „Į vieną grandinę ėmė sietis J. Abromavičiaus nužudymas bei tilto per Bražuolės upę ir „Lietuvos ryto" redakcijos sprogdinimai. Konservatoriai, matyt, čia įžvelgė didžiulį pavojų savo partijai ir perėjo į puolimą", – rašo knygos autorius.
| National parties |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presidents |
| ||||||||
| European Parliament Group Presidents |
| ||||||||
| European Commissioners (2024–2029) |
| ||||||||
| Heads of government at the European Council |
| ||||||||
