The center-left Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) won Sunday’s legislative elections in the country, according to official results released when 90.86% of the votes were counted.
According to the Electoral Commission, the LSDP obtained 20.73% of the votes, followed by the center-right party TS-LKD of the current Prime Minister, Ingrida Simonyte, which obtained 16.08% of the votes.
Ingrida Simonyte will probably be replaced by the social democrat Vilija Blinkeviciute, a former minister and current MEP who aspires to form a new center-left coalition government. Social Democrats last governed Lithuania from 2012 to 2016.
The third most voted party was the recently founded Nemuno Ausra (New Dawn, NA), which defines itself as a left-wing force, but is considered populist and pro-Russian.
The NA was formed in 2023 by Remigijus Zemaitaitis, a deputy who was expelled from the conservative Freedom and Justice Party (PLT) for expressing anti-Semitic views.
In addition to these three parties, the Union of Democrats “For Lithuania” (9.32%), the Union of Lithuanian Peasants and Greens (7.36%) and the Liberal Movement (7.21%) will have seats in the Lithuanian parliament. The participation rate in these elections was 52.06%.
Almost all parties reaffirmed during the campaign their support for Ukraine, invaded by Russia two years ago, and with spending of at least 3% of the budget on defense in 2025. 2.4 million people were called for Sunday’s elections. Lithuanians with the right to vote.
