2024-10-13 22:55:00
In Lithuania there are signs of a change of government in the first round of parliamentary elections. The opposition Social Democrats are ahead after 61 percent of the votes have been counted, as the electoral commission announced on Sunday evening. So you come to 22 percent. Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte‘s conservative Fatherland Union is making losses and only has 15 percent of the vote. The protest party “Dawn of Nemunas” achieved 17 percent.
The Social Democrats announced that they wanted to form a majority government together with two other parties. “I think there will be a coalition with two left-wing parties,” party leader Vilija Blinkeviciute told reporters.
Many citizens of the Baltic country are dissatisfied with the sharp increase in the cost of living and the work of the authorities. However, the country’s fundamental course of continuing to support Ukraine and increasing defense spending due to fear of a Russian attack is not in question.
The Baltic state with its 2.9 million inhabitants has a mixed electoral system in which half of the parliament is elected using proportional representation with a five percent threshold. The other half is elected via direct mandates. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes in their constituency, there will be a runoff election in two weeks. Prime Minister Simonyte lost the presidential election in May against incumbent Gitanas Nauseda.
During the election campaign, the Social Democrats promised to combat the growing gap between rich and poor. To do this, they want to raise taxes for wealthier Lithuanians in order to finance additional spending on health and social services. Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, national security is also an important issue in Lithuania, which is part of the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union and borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and the Russian ally Belarus. Three-quarters of Lithuanians believe Russia could attack their country in the near future, a poll showed in May.
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