Liberals' Movement Liberalų sąjūdis | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | LS |
| Chairperson | Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen |
| First vice chair | Edita Rudelienė |
| Deputy chairpersons |
|
| Executive secretary | Antanas Martusevičius |
| Founded | 25 February 2006 (2006-02-25) |
| Split from | Liberal and Centre Union |
| Headquarters | Gedimino pr. 64,Vilnius |
| Ideology | Conservative liberalism[1][2][3] |
| Political position | Centre[4] tocentre-right[8] |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| Colours | Orange |
| Seimas | 12 / 141 (9%) |
| European Parliament | 1 / 11 (9%) |
| Municipal councils | 217 / 1,473 |
| Mayors | 9 / 60 |
| Website | |
| liberalai.lt | |
TheLiberals' Movement (Lithuanian:Liberalų sąjūdis;LS) is aconservative-liberalpolitical party in Lithuania.[5][6][9][10]
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The party was founded in 2006 by dissident members of theLiberal and Centre Union that were unhappy withArtūras Zuokas's leadership.
In the summer of 2006, the Liberal Movement started cooperating with theHomeland Union (as the Liberal and Centre Union) before joining theKirkilas Cabinet.[11] In the 2007 municipal elections the party received 4.66 per cent of the national vote.
In the legislativeelections of2008, it gained 11 seats in theSeimas and 5.72 percent of the national vote. The LRLS formed a coalition with the Homeland Union, the Liberal and Centre Union, and theNational Resurrection Party. This coalition gained a combined governmental majority of 80 out of 141 seats in the Seimas, led byPrime MinisterAndrius Kubilius of the Homeland Union. At the subsequent elections of2012, the party lost one seat to finish with 10 seats in theSeimas and 8.57 percent of the national vote.
Just month before the 2011 municipal election, the party started to describe itself as "rational mind right-wingers" (Lithuanian:sveiko proto dešinieji), which amplified the possibility to win over the Liberal and Centre Union and the Homeland Union.[12] The party's support started to grow. In the2014 European Parliament election and the 2015 municipal election the party received 16.55 and 15.49 per cent of the national vote respectively. This growth was mainly at expense of the Liberal and Centre Union and theLithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals), which received 1.48 and per 4.91 cent of national vote 2014 and 2015 elections respectively. It was also attributed to the previously undecided voters or voters of other parties (the Homeland Union, theOrder and Justice andLabour Party).[13]
After the party's leaderEligijus Masiulis allegedly took a bribe of 106,000 euros,Antanas Guoga temporarily took his position on 13 May 2016.[14] He was the chairman for four days only before resigning. One month later, the mayor ofVilniusRemigijus Šimašius was elected as party's chairman.
The Šimašius leadership did not last long, and in 2017Eugenijus Gentvilas was elected as the new leader.[15]
In preparations for the 2019 municipal elections, several district committees (most notably inVilnius,Klaipėda andVarėna districts) decided to form public election committees. The Liberal Movement Board annulled their district committees' decisions. In return, the leaders of the district committees of Vilnius, Klaipėda and Varėna districts (Aušrinė Armonaitė,Vytautas Grubliauskas andAlgis Kašėta respectively) resigned from their positions or left the party altogether.[16][17]
One of these public election committees, "For Vilnius, which we are proud of!", in summer of 2019 formed a basis for a new party, theFreedom Party. Other aforementioned public election committees (alongside one inElektrėnai) joined the new party as well.
On the other hand, the public election committee "For changes inPagėgiai area" prior to the2020 parliamentary election joined theLithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, while most of the members of the Order and Justice Party (which dissolved itself in 2020) in the same area became members of the Liberal Movement.[18]
In 2020 parliamentary election the Liberals' Movement managed to obtain seven per cent of votes. It later joined in a coalition with the Homeland Union and the Freedom Party. In 2022, the party changed its name (removing the reference to the Republic of Lithuania) and logo.
The Liberals' Movement is generally described as acentrist[4] orcentre-right[6][7] party.
The party iseconomically liberal and ran on a platform of cutting taxation and legalizing gender-neutralpartnerships during the2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election.[19][20]
It supports theEuropean Green Deal, strengthening theCommon Security and Defence Policy and wider adoption ofqualified majority in theCouncil of the European Union.[21]
A conservative faction exists within the party, named "agroliberals" (Lithuanian:agroliberalai). Five members of the Seimas belonging to the Liberals' Movement in theThirteenth Seimas –Romualdas Vaitkus,Juozas Baublys,Ričardas Juška,Viktoras Pranckietis andJonas Varkalys – are considered to be members of the faction. During the term, this faction opposed same-sex partnerships, decriminalization of small quantities of narcotics, and mandatory vaccinations for doctors and social workers.[22]
Main party support is coming from urban areas (notably, fromKlaipėda).[23][24] The party receives support from rural areas as well, but this support comes from suburbs of towns closer to the cities (e. g.Gargždai,Jurbarkas).[25][26]
| Election | Leader | Votes[a] | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Eligijus Masiulis | 70,862 | 5.73 (#6) | 11 / 141 | New | Coalition |
| 2012 | 117,476 | 8.95 (#4) | 10 / 141 |  1 | Opposition | |
| 2016 | Remigijus Šimašius | 115,361 | 9.45 (#4) | 14 / 141 |  4 | Opposition |
| 2020 | Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen | 79,755 | 7.04 (#6) | 13 / 141 | 1 | Coalition |
| 2024 | 95,868 | 7.85 (#5) | 12 / 141 | 1 | Opposition |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Leonidas Donskis | 40,502 | 7.36 (#6) | 1 / 11 | New | ALDE |
| 2014 | Antanas Guoga | 189,373 | 16.55 (#3) | 2 / 11 | 1 | |
| 2019 | Petras Auštrevičius | 83,083 | 6.59 (#5) | 1 / 11 | 1 | RE |
| 2024 | Eugenijus Gentvilas | 36,640 | 5.42 (#8) | 1 / 11 |  0 |
| Parliamentarian | Occupation | From |
|---|---|---|
| Petras Auštrevičius | Diplomat | 2014 |
| Parliamentarian[27] | Previous mandate[27] | Current mandate from[27] | Constituency[27] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgilijus Alekna | – | 2016 | Nationwide |
| Juozas Baublys | – | 2016 | Varėna-Trakai |
| Viktorija Čmilytė | – | 2015 | Nationwide |
| Vitalijus Gailius | – | 2012 | Pakruojis-Joniškis |
| Arūnas Gelūnas | – | 2016 | Nationwide |
| Eugenijus Gentvilas | 1990–1992 | 2012 | Nationwide |
| Simonas Gentvilas | – | 2016 | Nationwide |
| Kęstutis Glaveckas | 1990–1992 | 1996 | Nationwide |
| Ričardas Juška | – | 2016 | Jurbarkas-Pagėgiai |
| Jonas Liesys | 2008–2012 | 2016 | Trakai-Vievis |
| Gintaras Vaičekauskas | – | 2016 | Pajūrio (Klaipėda) |
| Jonas Varkalys | – | 2016 | Plungė |
...conservative-liberal Liberal Movement, and centre/centre-left Freedom Party when it came to power in 2020.
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