Labour Party (Lithuania) Explained

Country:Lithuania
Labour Party
Native Name:Darbo partija
Chairperson:Valentinas Bukauskas
Abbreviation:DP
Founder:Viktor Uspaskich
Leader2 Title:First
Leader3 Title:Vice Chairpeople
Leader3 Name:Alvydas Meištas
Raimundas Markauskas
Vaida Pocė
Aidas Gedvilas
Vigilijus Jukna
Vaida Giraitytė-Juškevičienė
Alicija Ščerbaitė
Rolandas Janickas
Antanas Makarevičius
Valentinas Bukauskas
Marijus Velička
Vaidas Kuzmarskis
Ieva Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė
Viktoras Fiodorovas
Leader4 Title:Executive Secretary
Leader4 Name:Ingrida Karpuškaitė
Foundation:18 October 2003
Registered:25 November 2003
Headquarters:Ankštoji g. 3, Vilnius
Ideology:Social democracy[1]
Populism
Membership:9357[2]
Membership Year:2023
European:European Democratic Party (2004–2012)
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (2012–2021)[3]
Europarl:Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (2004–2019)
Renew Europe (2019–2021)
Non-Inscrits (since 2021)
Colours: Blue
White
Seats1 Title:Seimas
Seats2 Title:European Parliament
Seats3 Title:Municipal councils
Seats4 Title:Mayors

The Labour Party (Lithuanian: Darbo partija, DP) is a populist[4] centre-left[5] political party in Lithuania. The party was founded in 2003 by the Russian-born millionaire businessman and member of Seimas Viktor Uspaskich.[6]

History

Foundation and first government (2003–2006)

In its first electoral test, the 2004 European parliamentary elections, it was by far the most successful party, gaining 30.2% of the vote and returning five MEPs. It joined the European Democratic Party and thus the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group.At the legislative elections of 2004, the party won 28.4% of the popular vote and 39 out of 141 seats, making it the largest single party in the Parliament of Lithuania. After the election Labour formed a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, New Union and Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union.

After 2004 Lithuanian parliamentary election, sociologist Vladas Gaidys speculated that the Labour Party supporters had previously voted for New Union (Social Liberals) between 2000 and 2004.[7]

The "dark accounting" case

On 17 May 2006, a pre-trial investigation of the Labour Party began after information from the State Security Department of Lithuania revealed that the party may be funded from illegal activities. During the period from its foundation to 2006, the party's bookkeeping did not report 7 million Euros of additional income.[8] Allegations were first raised on the party's accounting and secretaries, but on 29 June, it was declared that the party will be tried as a juridical person.

Uspaskich resigned from party leadership and fled to Moscow. After a European Arrest Warrant was given to arrest him, he was arrested on 15 August and extradited to Lithuania on 27 August. While in Moscow, Uspaskich organized press conferences where he declared Lithuania to be a "undemocratic state"[9] and described the case as a politicized attempt to destroy the Labour Party.

The Labour Party was acquitted on 2013, as it united with the Labourist Party, a satellite party[10] established in 2008, and was no longer the same legal entity. Though the Supreme Court of Lithuania made a ruling that this reorganization should have been ignored and the case should have been continued, it was not renewed due to an expired statute of limitations. Individual party leaders received fines and prison terms - however, they were acquitted in 2016, on the leadup to the 2016 parliamentary election.[9]

Opposition (2006–2012)

Because of the ongoing "dark accounting" case, the party was expelled from the ruling coalition and moved to opposition in June 2006, while some of its members (including Speaker of the Seimas Viktoras Muntianas) founded the Civic Democratic Party and joined the new coalition led by Gediminas Kirkilas. At the legislative elections of 2008 the party lost heavily, retaining only 10 seats in the Seimas from its previous 39 and obtaining 9% of the national vote.

In 2011, the New Union (Social Liberals) merged with the party.[11] In May 2012, the Labour Party joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) party.[12]

Second government and opposition (since 2012)

At the 2012 parliamentary election the party had considerable success, obtaining 19.82% of the votes (+11.83% compared with the 2008 election) in the proportional representation quota and a total tally of 29 seats.Following the results, the Labour Party joined the coalition cabinet led by Algirdas Butkevičius, with 4 portfolio ministers out of 15. In 2013, the Christian Party merged with the party.[13]

At the 2016 parliamentary election the party obtained just 4.88% of the votes in the proportional representation quota (5% of the votes are needed for representation) and won only 2 seats in single member constituencies. In 2017 the party started to lose its members (including long–time members like former chairman Živilė Pinskuvienė) en masse, which formed various movements in local government or joined the Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania in 2018.[14]

On 15 April 2018, former chairman Viktor Uspaskich was selected as the new chairman of the party.[15] After this, the party made speedy recovery – in 2019 municipal election the party obtained 5.09% of the votes and in 2019 European Parliament election it won nearly 9% of the votes. At the 2020 parliamentary election the Labour Party won about 10% of the votes. This gain of support was attributed to votes' shedding of Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, which by itself failed to reach 5 per cent threshold in nationwide constituency.

In 2021 the party's board decided to withdraw from its affiliation of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. This came following the expulsion of party leader MEP Viktor Uspaskich from the Renew Europe group at the European Parliament due to his homophobic comments.[16]

Ideology

In the 2010s, the Labour Party was considered to be one of the main left-wing parties in Lithuania, together with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.[17] However, it is also considered a personalistic populist party with an unclear ideological orientation.[18] It describes itself as a "party of the centre open to everyone."[19] The party owes its success and existence to the wealth and charisma of millionaire Russian-born businessman Viktor Uspaskich, who promoted a populist platform of opposing the elite and taking care of "the common man".[20] The Centre for Eastern Studies and Center for Strategic and International Studies place the party left of center. The party is opposed to austerity policies and is known for its ambitious plans of social support.[21] Its populism revolves around mobilizing dissatisfaction with established politicians for neglecting the poor social groups of Lithuania.[22] The party's rhetoric has been described as "basically social democratic".[1] At the same time, the party is also connected with major businesses in Lithuania, and it has been described as the political arm of the Lithuanian Confederation of Business Employers (Lithuanian: Lietuvos verslo darbdavių konfederacija), which Uspaskich was the president of from 1997 to 2003 and which was the origin of several of the party's founding members,[23] including Romualda Kšanienė, Dangutė Mikutienė, Vitalija Vonžutaitė, Viktoras Muntianas, Šarūnas Birutis and Antanas Bosas.

During electoral campaigns, it generally advertises itself by promising raw increases to pensions and minimum wages, often beyond the country's ability to accomplish such promises; in the electoral campaign for the 2016 parliamentary elections, the Labour Party manifesto called to double minimum wages immediately after election, setting them at 60 percent of the average wage, a balance higher than in any European country.[24] During the European migrant crisis, the Labour Party embraced anti-migrant rhetoric. The party's leader Valentinas Mazuronis called for Lithuania to block the distribution of refugees among EU member states.[25] The party focuses on protecting and improving workers' rights in Lithuania,[26] but also supports improving business conditions and boosting private investment, especially in the country's rural regions.[27]

According to studies, the Labour Party garners support from voters with a positive judgment of the Soviet period and voters who see Russia as a potential partner to Lithuania rather than a threat, as well as non-Lithuanian voters.[28] The party is commonly described as pro-Russian, though it has resented such claims, and officially supports membership in EU and NATO. The party's founder, Viktor Uspaskich, has led the party directly or indirectly ever since its foundation in 2003. According to Member of the Seimas and former Labour Party member Antanas Guoga, it is a "cult with a spiritual leader".[29] Professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius University Tomas Janeliūnas described the party as "a collection of conformists", unified by Uspaskich. These descriptions came in the aftermath of a scandal in December 2020, in which Viktor Uspaskich used his Facebook account to advertise "ŪPAS" mineral water, which, according to him, provides a person with immunity against COVID-19, without the need of vaccination. Guoga was the only Labour Party MP to condemn the action, and it was either defended or unaddressed by other members of the party.[30]

Electoral results

Seimas

ElectionVotes%Seats+/–Government
2004340,03528.4 (#1) 38
2008111,1498.9 (#6) 29
2012271,52018.8 (#3) 19
201659,6204.8 (#7) 27
2020110,7809.8 (#4) 8

European Parliament

ElectionVotes%Seats+/–
2004363,93130.2 (#1)
200948,3688.6 (#4) 4
2014146,60712.4 (#5)
2019112,9648.5 (#4)
202411,2321.7 (#13) 1

External links

Notes and References

  1. 14 . "Of the two Lithuanian cases, Labour Party can be argued to have run on basically a social democratic ticket without the alleged corruption of Algirdas Brazauskas’ Social Democratic Party." . Newness as a Project: Successful New Parties in the Baltic States . Allan . Sikk . ECPR General Conference . Budapest . 8 September 2005 . European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).
  2. Web site: Darbo partija . lt . . 2024 . 31 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240730230435/https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/darbo-partija-1/ . 30 July 2024.
  3. Web site: Lithuanian Labour Party quits EP's liberal group after leader's homophobic rant. 2 February 2021.
  4. Book: Richard Rose. Neil Munro. Parties and Elections in New European Democracies. 1 April 2009. ECPR Press. 978-0-9558203-2-8. 178.
  5. 775 . "These circumstances were ideally suited to a party that combined a leftist outlook with anti-establishment rhetoric, so the new Labour Party, rather than Paksas’s Liberal Democrats, came from nowhere to win a plurality of votes and seats. Labour’s wealthy Russian leader, Viktor Uspaskich, may have helped his party’s cause by reminding some voters of the socially secure Soviet times." . Notes on Recent Elections / Electoral Studies . 24 . 2005 . 1 . Mindaugas . Jurkynas . The 2004 presidential and parliamentary elections in Lithuania . 10.1016/j.electstud.2005.03.002 . Institute of International Relations and Political Science (TSPMI).
  6. Book: Saulius A. Suziedelis. Historical Dictionary of Lithuania. 7 February 2011. Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-7536-4. 163–.
  7. Web site: V.Gaidys: Darbo partijos gerbėjai - buvę NS rinkėjai.
  8. Web site: Politinių partijų bylos: Darbo partijos "juodoji buhalterija", "tvarkiečiai" ir liberalai.
  9. Web site: Darbo partijos skandalai: Juodoji buhalterija, pabėgimas į Rusiją ir netylantys meilės romanai.
  10. Web site: Želnienė . Liepa . V. Uspaskichas: Darbo partija turi „planą B“, jei bus likviduota . LRT . lt . 8 November 2012 . „Mes turime. Turime. Taip“, – paklaustas, ar Darbo partija jau dabar yra pasiruošusi likvidavimui ir dėl to sukūrė Leiboristų partiją, teigė V. Uspaskichas..
  11. News: Naujoji sąjunga prisijungė prie Darbo partijos . atn.lt . 9 July 2011 . 2 August 2011 . lt . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111008072509/http://politika.atn.lt/straipsnis/83895/naujoji-sajunga-prisijunge-prie-darbo-partijos . 8 October 2011 .
  12. News: Darbo partija tapo Europos liberalų demokratų ir reformų partijos nare . Delfi . 15 May 2012 . 2 August 2011 . lt . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111008072509/http://politika.atn.lt/straipsnis/83895/naujoji-sajunga-prisijunge-prie-darbo-partijos . 8 October 2011 .
  13. News: Susijungė Krikščionių ir Darbo partijos . 15min.lt . 9 July 2011 . 30 December 2017 . lt .
  14. News: Partinei sistemai - skaudūs smūgiai, o kritusius įkvepia V. Matijošaičio reitingai . lrytas.lt . 9 December 2017 . 30 December 2017 . lt .
  15. Web site: Darbo partijos suvažiavime staigmenų nėra - pirmininku išrinktas Viktoras Uspaskichas. 15 April 2018.
  16. Web site: Lithuanian Labour Party quits EP's liberal group after leader's homophobic rant. 2 February 2021.
  17. Book: Gender and LGBTQ Issues in Election Processes: Global and Local Contexts . Paulina . Barczyszyn-Madziarz . Przemysław . Żukiewicz . 2022 . 978-1-003-20441-1 . Routledge . 10.4324/9781003204411-4 . 2. Gender and post-election intraparliamentary volatility in East Central Europe: The cases of the Czech, Lithuanian, and Polish parliaments . 5 . "The 2012 election was won by the left, concentrated around two parties: the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija, LSP) and the Labour Party (Darbo partija, DP), which together, however, still did not have a majority.".
  18. Book: Ainė Ramonaitė. Post-Communist EU Member States: Parties and Party Systems. 2006. Scarecrow Press. 9781351909709.
  19. Web site: Apie partiją.
  20. Web site: Šuliokas . Justinas . Who's who in Lithuania's 2020 parliamentary election – explainer . LRT . lt . 21 September 2020.
  21. Web site: The first round of parliamentary elections in Lithuania . Joanna . Hyndle-Hussein . 19 October 2012 . Centre for Eastern Studies.
  22. 54 . Shifting parties, constant cleavage Party system formation along the urban-rural cleavage in post-communist Lithuania . Svenn Arne . Lie . Department of Comparative Politics . University of Bergen . May 2006.
  23. Web site: Krupavičius . Algis . Keli pastebėjimai apie lietuviškos politikos Augijo arklides . Delfi . lt . 11 May 2018 . Kažkada buvo Lietuvos verslo darbdavių konfederacija ir Vakarų Lietuvos pramonės ir finansų korporacija, kurios kaip politinis anstatas (galima sakyti ir „stogas“) buvo sukurta Darbo partija. Ji atvedė į politiką visą būrį verslininkų. Rimtų ir nemažai versle pasiekusių. Kad tą anie darė atvirai, tai yra aiškus pliusas..
  24. Web site: Lietuvoje, artėjant rinkimams, partijos pradeda žarstytis naujais pažadais - Anglija.lt.
  25. Web site: Valentinas Mazuronis siūlo pabėgėlius apgyvendinti uždarose gyvenvietėse.
  26. Book: Mckenna, Amy . 68 . Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland . Britannica Educational Publishing . 2013 . 978-1615309719 . "Other parties include Labour Party(Darbo Partija; DP), which advocates for workers' rights.".
  27. Web site: Šuliokas . Justinas . Who's who in Lithuania's 2020 parliamentary election – explainer . LRT . lt . 21 September 2020 . This time, the Labour Party’s platform promises to work towards improving business conditions for local producers and boosting private investment in the country’s regions – saying this will provide the economic basis for social spending..
  28. Web site: Mažvydas Jastramskis. Darbo partijos sugrįžimas ar didelis šnipštas?.
  29. Web site: Tomas Janeliūnas: Darbo partija – konformistų susibūrimas.
  30. Web site: Lietuvai kovojant su COVID-19 pandemija, Uspaskichas kviečia saugotis specialiu vandeniu: Platintojas sako – tai paprasčiausias mineralinis. 28 December 2020.