Socialist People's Front Socialistinis liaudies frontas | |
|---|---|
_logo.png){kind=logo} | |
| Leader | Giedrius Grabauskas |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Merger of | Front Party Socialist Party of Lithuania |
| Headquarters | Kaštonų g. 4,Vilnius |
| Membership(2014) | 1,145[1] |
| Ideology | Marxism Socialism Democratic socialism Social democracy Left-wing nationalism Left-wing populism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| European affiliation | INITIATIVE |
| International affiliation | IMCWP |
| Continental affiliation | CPSU (2001) |
| Lithuanian parliament | 0 / 141 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 12 |
| Local councils | 0 / 1,526 |
| Website | |
| slfrontas.lt | |
TheSocialist People's Front (SPF;Lithuanian:Socialistinis liaudies frontas) is a left-wing political association (formerly a party) inLithuania formed in December 19, 2009, from a merger of theFront Party andSocialist Party of Lithuania. Held atVilnius University, the party's foundation featured 102 delegates. The merger was approved by an affirmative vote of 96 delegates, with three against and one abstaining. The leader of the Socialist Party of Lithuania, Giedrius Petružis, refused candidacy for chairperson of the merged party, claiming a desire to return to academic life. The leader of the Front Party,Algirdas Paleckis, was unanimously chosen as the leader of the SPF.[2]
In December 2017, the party was reorganized into a political association, as it was liquidated in 2016 for lacking the minimum required number of members for a party.[3]
In late 2018, some of the senior members and several supporters split from the party, thus forming theSocialist Party.
The ideology of the SPF isdemocratic socialism. The party's by-laws and programme were ratified at the party's founding conference on December 19, 2009. The party's by-laws indicate that the "Party is an inseparable part of the international leftist movement. It actively pursues the strengthening of bonds of friendship between Lithuania and other nations, fights for the continuation and strengthening of peace, and maintains contact withinternational nongovernmental organizations that adhere to the principles of democracy and socialism."[4] The goals of the party include "the institution of democratic socialism in Lithuania and the strengthening of a unified public, whose members help each other." The by-laws also indicate that:
In its political action the party follows the guidelines set by a creatively developingMarxist theory and methodology, advances made by western social democracies, the positive beginnings ofSoviet socialism, the achievements of thecapitalist system beneficial to society, and the principles of humanitarianism,equal rights, and solidarity... The SPF represents physical and intellectual work done on behalf of the interests of the workers in the private, public, and governmental spheres. The SPF protects the rights of small and middle-sized businesses. Its persistent concern is the problems faced by recipients of welfare. The SPF will seek to achieve its goals only by peaceful, political means, respecting theConstitution of Lithuania, laws, and international acts and principles that defend human rights.[4]
The SPF congress is the supreme organ of the party. The congress chooses the party's executive council, which oversees and organizes the activity of the party in between congresses, received decisions regarding creating coalitions with other parties, and approves the budget, any reports on the use of funds, and the candidacy of the head of the election committee. The party's sole leader is the chairperson. Territorial subgroups of the party are its chapters and groups.
The party participated in the2012 parliamentary election and came 11th with 16,515 (1.21%) votes and no seats. The municipal elections in 2015 were more successful, as the political bloc the party participated in received 68 seats, of which 2 were delegates of SPF, includingRafael Muksinov, a member ofVilnius City Council. The party council decided not to participate in the2016 parliamentary election.
The SPF caused controversy twice in 2010 when members of the party were denied entry intoEstonia. On April 21, party leader Algirdas Paleckis was part of a group of activists traveling to Estonia to protestNATO's policy regarding thewar in Afghanistan. Paleckis was told that he was on the Estonianpersona non-grata list because of his political views and activities.[5] In late June, SPF activists, along withanti-fascists fromLatvia, were denied entry on their way to protest a meeting of veterans of the20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS near theVaivara concentration camp.[6] The activists were told that their vehicle was not fit for entry, and, according to the SPF, the only member of the SPF who managed the border crossing into Estonia was not on the official SPF list of activists and had not been mentioned by name by protest organizers over the telephone.[7]
In 2011, Lithuanian authorities had initiated prosecution against Paleckis for his denial ofSoviet aggression against Lithuania,[8] or, to be more specific, against his claim that Soviet soldiers and special units were not responsible for the deaths of 13 people (including one victim offriendly fire)on January 13, 1991.[9] Paleckis allegedly found several witnesses and ballistic assessments that seemed to indicate that there were secret snipers on the roof of the Vilnius TV centre who were shooting into the civilians. He then went on to state publicly that "it appears that in January 1991 our own people were shooting at our own people."[10] It was the first verdict in Lithuania's history on charges of denying aggressive conduct of the Soviet Union.[11] AVilnius court had vindicated Paleckis in January 2012. The prosecution had appealed, and Paleckis was sentenced to a fine of 10,400litas on June 12, 2012.[12] Paleckis himself claimed that there was purportedly no independent investigation into the events of January 13, 1991 at the Vilnius TV tower.
The party also hails the Constitution ofPeople's Seimas, adopted by thepuppet government led byJustas Paleckis.
During the demonstration to commemorate Independence Day of Lithuania on February 15, 2014, the leader of Kaunas' branchGiedrius Grabauskas commented on theAct of March 11 as the one "having brought severe consequences to Lithuania".[13]
During the events ofEuroMaidan the party was one of very few in Lithuania who clearly expressed support for a then-presidentViktor Yanukovych. On May 20, 2014 the party, together with other small radical organisations, organised a small rally in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to voice its opposition towards Lithuanian foreign policy during theRusso-Ukrainian war, making accusations for "representing the interests of the US and EU, not Lithuanian ones".
A former leader Algirdas Paleckis left the party in January 2016, just before the Parliamentary election. He motivated such a decision by "diverted opinions with the party leadership", their "overestimation of the significance of rallies and underestimation of the one of participation in the election". As a result, Paleckis participated in the election as an independent candidate inNaujoji Vilnia.[14] The party with a new leadership started to use morenationalist rhetoric.
Even though the party is economicallyfar-left, with statements often attackingfree market economics, it has voicedconservative views on social issues such asLGBT rights andimmigration policy. One of its membersSergejus Sokolovas has declared that leftists should fight sexual minorities rather than support them. He also referred to the supporters ofLGBT movement astolerasts, a pun oftolerance andpaederasty frequently used by the hate speech groups.[15] Its former leader Algirdas Paleckis was among the initiators organising the2014 referendum on banning sale of land to foreigners.
The party also opposes quotas forrefugees and participated in an anti-refugee rally held inŠiauliai on November 14, 2015. Other than theEuropean refugee crisis, which they referred to as a 'involuntary immigration', the rally also highlighted "human rights abuses of the working class", "war propaganda" and "Russophobia". The demonstration also saw the attendance of asyncretic sister organisation "The Combat", former neo-Nazi activistŽilvinas Razminas, as well asWay of Courage and right-wing populistUnion of the Fighters for Lithuania.[16]
Vėliau ši partija buvo likviduota, tačiau nuo 2017 m. gruodžio yra pertvarkyta į asociaciją. ("The party was later liquidated, but was reorganized to a political association in December of 2017.")
