Freedom and Justice explained

Country:Lithuania
Freedom and Justice
Native Name:Laisvė ir teisingumas
Headquarters:Vilnius
Leader:Artūras Zuokas
Founder:Artūras Zuokas
Merger:LiCS, YES
Order and Justice, Movement Forward, Lithuania
Foundation:
6 June 2020
Membership:4,569 (2022)
Position:Centre-right[1] to right-wing
Abbreviation:PLT
Colours:Selective yellow and Persian blue
Seats1 Title:Seimas
Seats2 Title:European Parliament
Seats3 Title:Municipal councils
Seats4 Title:Mayors

Freedom and Justice (Lithuanian: Laisvė ir Teisingumas, PLT), known until 6 June 2020 as the Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals) (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Laisvės Sąjunga (Liberalai)), is a conservative-liberal political party in Lithuania. It holds soft eurosceptic views.[2]

History

The party was originally founded on 12 July 2014, when the Liberal and Centre Union (LiCS) merged with YES.[3] [4] [5] YES leader Artūras Zuokas became a leader of newly formed party.

In 2015 Lithuanian municipal election the party won 4.91 per cent of votes. Its best performance was in northeast of Lithuania. In 2016 Lithuanian parliamentary election the party won 2.16 per cent of votes in multi-member constituency.

After poor results of 2019 European Parliament elections, Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals), Order and Justice and public election committee "Strong Lithuania in United Europe" started negotiations.[6]

In June 2020, Order and Justice and former MP Arturas Paulauskas' movement "Forward, Lithuania" merged into the party (combining with Artūras Zuokas–led party) and the new movement was renamed to Freedom and Justice. The party was affiliated with ALDE until its merger in 2020.

MPs from Order and Justice, Remigijus Žemaitaitis and Kęstutis Bartkevičius became Freedom and Justice' representatives in the Seimas. In 2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election only Remigijus Žemaitaitis retained his seat. In 2021, Žemaitaitis joined the Lithuanian Regions Parliamentary Group.[7]

On 19 May 2023 Freedom and Justice terminated Remigijus Žemaitaitis membership in the party due to controversial antisemitic comments.

Ideology

The party has a conservative-liberal,[8] centre-right profile and is supportive of both the European Union and NATO. The party is in favour of allowing civil unions for same-sex couples. After it merger with Order and Justice in 2020, the party adopts soft eurosceptic stance on European integration.[2]

The party is economically liberal. It supports the privatization of parts of the health care sector and opposes the establishment of a national development bank. The party favours giving tax incentives to companies that hire seniors and opposes progressive taxation. Instead, it wants to lower value-added taxes.[9]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Justinas. Šuliokas. Who's who in Lithuania's 2020 parliamentary election – explainer . LRT . 20 September 2020. 29 August 2022.
  2. Web site: Lithuania.
  3. Web site: Jungiasi politinė partija "Sąjunga TAIP" ir Liberalų ir centro sąjunga. YES. May 15, 2014. March 1, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110439/http://www.taip.lt/naujienos/jungiasi-politine-partija-sajunga-taip-ir-liberalu-ir-centro-sajunga-.html. April 2, 2015. dead.
  4. Web site: "TAIP" ir LiCS suvažiavime įkurta Lietuvos laisvės sąjunga. Lietuvos rytas. July 12, 2014. March 1, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20141231055231/http://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvos-diena/aktualijos/taip-ir-lics-suvaziavime-ikurta-lietuvos-laisves-sajunga.htm. December 31, 2014. dead.
  5. Web site: Lietuvoje įkurta nauja partija. Delfi. July 12, 2014. March 1, 2015.
  6. Web site: R.Žemaitaitis, A.Zuokas ir A.Paulauskas jungiasi: Laukite, mes jus dar nustebinsime.
  7. Web site: Seime įkurta Lietuvos regionų frakcija - Naujienos .
  8. Web site: Wolfram. Nordsieck. Lithuania. Parties and Elections in Europe. 2020. 27 October 2020.
  9. Web site: Europe Elects: Laisvė ir Teisingumas Freedom and Justice Lithuania, Parliament Election 2020. YouTube. 11 October 2020. October 26, 2020.