Socialist People's Front
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The Socialist People's Front (SPF; lt, Socialistinis liaudies frontas) is a left-wing political party in
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
formed out of the December 19, 2009, merger of the
Front Party The Front Party ( lt, Fronto partija, abbreviated FRONTAS) was a socialist political party in Lithuania established in 2008 by Algirdas Paleckis. It participated in the 2008 Lithuanian parliamentary elections but failed to reach the 5% cutoff ...
and
Lithuanian Socialist Party Socialist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos socialistų partija) was a Marxist political party in Lithuania. It was formed on March 26, 1994, The principal creators of the LSP were J.Sakalauskas, Albinas Visockas, who was to be elected leader o ...
. Held at Vilnius University, the party's foundation featured 102 delegates. The merger was approved by an affirmative vote of 96 delegates, with three against and one abstaining. The leader of the Lithuanian Socialist Party, Giedrius Petružis, refused candidacy for chairperson of the merged party, claiming a desire to return to academic life. The leader of the Front Party,
Algirdas Paleckis Algirdas Paleckis (born 20 May 1971) is a Lithuanian diplomat, politician, columnist, leader of the political movement The Dawn of Justice. Šiauliai district court convicted Paleckis for spying for Russia in July 2021. The conviction was upheld ...
, was unanimously chosen as the leader of the SPF. The party participated in the 22nd international Communist seminar held in 2013.


Ideology and Political Programme

The ideology of the SPF is democratic socialist. The party's by-laws and programme were ratified on at the party's founding on December 19, 2009. The party's by-laws indicate that the "Party is an inseparable part of the international leftist movement. It actively pursues the strengthening of bonds of friendship between Lithuania and other nations, fights for the continuation and strengthening of peace, and maintains contact with international nongovernmental organizations that adhere to the principles of democracy and socialism."Socialistinio Liaudies Fronto statutas
The goals of the party include "the institution of democratic socialism in Lithuania and the strengthening of a unified public, whose members help each other." The by-laws also indicate that:


Structure

The SPF congress is the supreme organ of the party. The congress chooses the party's executive council, which oversees and organizes the activity of the party in between congresses, received decisions regarding creating coalitions with other parties, and approves the budget, any reports on the use of funds, and the candidacy of the head of the election committee. The party's sole leader is the chairperson. Territorial subgroups of the party are its chapters and groups.


Participation in elections

The party participated in
Parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
and came 11th with 16,515 (1.21%) votes and no seats. The municipal elections in 2015 were more successful, as the political block the party participated in received 68 seats, of which 2 were delegates of SPF, including Rafael Muksinov, a current member of
Vilnius City Council Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...
. The party council decided not to participate in the parliamentary election in 2016.


Controversies

The SPF caused controversy twice in 2010 when members of the party were denied entry into Estonia. On April 21, party leader Algirdas Paleckis was part of a group of activists traveling to Estonia to protest NATO's policy regarding the war in Afghanistan. Paleckis was told that he was on the Estonian persona non-grata list because of his political views and activities. In late June, SPF activists, along with anti-fascists from
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, were denied entry on their way to protest a meeting of veterans of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS near the
Vaivara concentration camp Vaivara was the largest of the 22 concentration and labor camps established in occupied Estonia by the Nazi regime during World War II. It had 20,000 Jewish prisoners pass through its gates, mostly from the Vilna and Kovno Ghettos, but also ...
. The activists were told that their vehicle was not fit for entry, and, according to the SPF, the only member of the SPF who managed the border crossing into Estonia was not on the official SPF list of activists and had not been mentioned by name by protest organizers over the telephone. In 2011, Lithuanian authorities had initiated prosecution against Paleckis for his denial of Soviet aggression against Lithuania, or, to be more specific, against his claim that Soviet soldiers and special units were not responsible for the deaths of 13 people (including one victim of friendly fire) on January 13, 1991. Paleckis allegedly found several witnesses and ballistic assessments that seemed to indicate that there were secret snipers on the roof of the Vilnius TV centre who were shooting into the civilians. He then went on to state publicly that "it appears that in January 1991 our own people were shooting at our own people." It was the first verdict in Lithuania's history on charges of denying aggressive conduct of the Soviet Union. A Vilnius court had vindicated Paleckis in January 2012. The prosecution had appealed, and Paleckis was sentenced to a fine of 10,400
litas The Lithuanian litas (ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural ''litai'' (nominative) or ''litų'' (genitive) was the currency of Lithuania, until 1 January 2015, when it was replaced by the euro. It was divided into 100 centų (genit ...
on June 12, 2012. Paleckis himself claimed that there was purportedly no independent investigation into the events of January 13, 1991 at the Vilnius TV tower. The party also hails the Constitution of People's Seimas, adopted by the puppet government led by
Justas Paleckis Justas Paleckis ( – 26 January 1980) was a Lithuanian author, journalist and politician. He was nominal acting president of Lithuania after the Soviet invasion while Lithuania was still ostensibly independent, in office from 17 June to 3 Au ...
. During the demonstration to commemorate Independence Day of Lithuania on February 15, 2014, the leader of Kaunas' branch
Giedrius Grabauskas Giedrius is a Lithuanian masculine given name and may refer to the following individuals: * Giedrius Andriunaitis (born 1991), Lithuanian swimmer *Giedrius Arlauskis (born 1987), Lithuanian football goalkeeper * Giedrius Barevičius (born 1976), L ...
commented on the Act of March 11 as the one "having brought severe consequences to Lithuania". During the events of
EuroMaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...
the party was one of very few in Lithuania who clearly expressed support for a then-president Viktor Yanukovych. On May 20, 2014 the party, together with other small radical organisations, organised a small rally in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to voice its opposition towards Lithuanian foreign policy during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, making accusations for "representing the interests of the US and EU, not Lithuanian ones". A former leader Algirdas Paleckis left the party in January 2016, just before the Parliamentary election. He motivated such a decision by "diverted opinions with the party leadership", their "overestimation of the significance of rallies and underestimation of the one of participation in the election". As a result, Paleckis participated in the election as an independent candidate in
Naujoji Vilnia Naujoji Vilnia is an eldership in eastern Vilnius, Lithuania situated along the banks of the Vilnia River. According to the 2011 census, the municipality had a population of 31,933. This figure grew to 36,507 in 2021, when the newest census wa ...
. The party with a new leadership started to use more nationalist rhetoric.


Political positions

Even though the party is economically
far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...
, with the statements often attacking free market economics, it has voiced views more similar to Conservatism in social issues, such as LGBT rights and
immigration policy Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...
. One of its members Sergejus Sokolovas in its interview declared that leftists should fight sexual minorities rather than support them. He also referred to the supporters of
LGBT movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...
as '' tolerasts'', a pun of
tolerance Tolerance or toleration is the state of tolerating, or putting up with, conditionally. Economics, business, and politics * Toleration Party, a historic political party active in Connecticut * Tolerant Systems, the former name of Veritas Software ...
and
paederasty Pederasty or paederasty ( or ) is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a pubescent or adolescent boy. The term ''pederasty'' is primarily used to refer to historical practices of certain cultures, particularly ancient Greece and anc ...
frequently used by the hate speech groups. Its former leader Algirdas Paleckis would be among the initiators for organising the referendum on banning land sales to foreigners. The party also opposes quotas for
refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.
and participated in an anti-refugee rally held in Šiauliai on November 14, 2015. Other than European refugee crisis that they referred to as a 'involuntary immigration', the rally also highlighted "human rights abuses of the working class", "war propaganda" and " Russophobia". The demonstration also saw the attendance of a syncretic sister organisation "The Combat", as well as
Way of Courage The Way of Courage ( lt, Drąsos Kelias) is a populism, populist List of political parties in Lithuania, political party in Lithuania. It was founded in 2012 and has an anti-corruption platform. History The party was established by supporters ...
and right-wing populist Fighters for Lithuania Union, former neo-Nazi activist Žilvinas Razminas.


Leadership

*
Algirdas Paleckis Algirdas Paleckis (born 20 May 1971) is a Lithuanian diplomat, politician, columnist, leader of the political movement The Dawn of Justice. Šiauliai district court convicted Paleckis for spying for Russia in July 2021. The conviction was upheld ...
(2009-2014) * Edikas Jagelavičius (2014-2017) *
Giedrius Grabauskas Giedrius is a Lithuanian masculine given name and may refer to the following individuals: * Giedrius Andriunaitis (born 1991), Lithuanian swimmer *Giedrius Arlauskis (born 1987), Lithuanian football goalkeeper * Giedrius Barevičius (born 1976), L ...
(2017-)


References


External links


slfrontas.lt
Official site {{Authority control Communist parties in Lithuania Political parties established in 2009 2009 establishments in Lithuania Socialist parties in Lithuania Organizations that oppose LGBT rights