Confirming the trend in many countries in 2024, in Lithuania’s general election voters opted for change rather than more of the same. In the two-round contest that ended on October 27, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) won a landslide victory, capturing fifty-two out of 141 parliamentary seats, well up from their previous thirteen. This Monday, the LSDP announced a coalition pact allowing the party to lead a new administration. So what explains the shift, and how much change can we really expect?
For the last four years, Lithuania had been ruled by a conservative-liberal coalition government. In this period, the country gained notoriety for its geopolitical stand against Russia and China in the name of human rights and Western values. The main conservative party Homeland Union — Lithuanian Christian Democrats aimed to instrumentalize geopolitical insecurity for its own domestic popularity — and claimed to be the only force able to ensure stability. However, this election strategy failed, forcing its main leader Gabrielius Landsbergis, who was also foreign minister, to announce his resignation.
In this election campaign, the center-left LSDP instead avoided large geopolitical questions, focusing on more everyday issues such as access to school, hospitals, or a fair pension system. Over recent years, Lithuania had one of the highest inflation rates in Europe, and this surely impacted voter choices. One reason was that the previous government liberalized the energy sector in favor of private firms; and while it promised lower electricity…
Auteur: Jurgis Valiukevičius
