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The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (, LSDP) is a
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
and
social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
political party in Lithuania This article lists political parties in Lithuania. Lithuania has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition govern ...
. Founded as an underground
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
organisation in 1896, it is the oldest extant party in
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
. During the time of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, the party went into exile, emerging once again after the end of communist rule in 1989. The party led a government in the
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...
, Lithuania's parliament from 2001 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2016. It has been the ruling party of Lithuania since
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
. The party is a member of the
Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...
(PES),
Progressive Alliance The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of progressive and social democratic political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Socia ...
, and
Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...
.


History


Establishment

Initial discussions about forming a
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
political party in
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
began early in 1895, with a number of informal gatherings bringing together social democrats of various stripes resulting in a preparatory conference in the summer of that year. Differences in objectives became clear between ethnic
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and ethnic
Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...
and
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
, with the former seeing themselves essentially as Russian Marxists while the latter two groups harboured both revolutionary and national aspirations. Moreover, the ethnic Poles and Lithuanians saw themselves divided over the question of alliance with non-Marxist liberals. As a result, not one but three Marxist political organisations would emerge in Lithuania between 1895 and 1897. The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP) was founded on 1 May (19 April O.S.) 1896 at a secret congress held in an apartment in
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
.Sabaliūnas, ''Lithuanian Social Democracy in Perspective'', pg. 27. Among the 13 delegates were
Andrius Domaševičius Andrius Domaševičius (30 November 1865 – 19 March 1935) was a Lithuanian politician and gynecologist. He was one of the founders and an active member of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, Social Democrat movement in Lithuania. Early ...
and
Alfonsas Moravskis Alfonsas is a Lithuanian language, Lithuanian masculine given name. People bearing the name Alfonsas include: *Alfonsas Andriuškevičius (born 1940), Lithuanian poet and art historian *Alfonsas Danys (1924–2014), Lithuanian writer *Alfonsas Dar ...
—a pair of intellectuals regarded as the central organisers of the new political entity—and the future President of Lithuania,
Kazys Grinius Kazys Grinius (, 17 December 1866 – 4 June 1950) was the third President of Lithuania, holding the office from 7 June 1926 to 17 December 1926. Previously, he had served as the fifth Prime Minister of Lithuania, from 19 June 1920 until his r ...
, as well as a number of worker activists. Also in attendance as a representative of the radical youth movement was an 18-year-old ethnic Pole named
Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (; ; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix (), was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka a ...
, later the head of the
Soviet secret police There were a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The Okhrana was abolished by the Provisional government after the first revolution of 1917, and the first secret police after the October Revolution, created by Vladimir Leni ...
. As Lithuania was then part of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, the LSDP was inevitably an illegal organisation, meeting in secret and seeking to bring about the revolutionary overthrow of the
Tsarist Tsarist autocracy (), also called Tsarism, was an autocracy, a form of absolute monarchy in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. In it, the Tsar possessed in principle authority and ...
regime. The LSDP was a dual language organisation, publishing its illegal newspapers both in Lithuanian and Polish. Newspapers were published abroad, printed in
East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
(or sometimes
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
or
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
) and smuggled across the border. Technical assistance was occasionally provided by the
Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania The Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (, SDKPiL), originally the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland (SDKP), was a Marxist political party founded in 1893 and later served as an autonomous section of the Russian Social ...
party, headed by Julian Marchlewski.Sabaliūnas, ''Lithuanian Social Democracy in Perspective'', pg. 30. This smuggling of Lithuanian newspapers had historical antecedents. Following the Polish and Lithuanian Uprising of 1863, the Tsarist regime had banned publication of all newspapers which used the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...
, a measure which amounted to a ''de facto'' ban of the entire Lithuanian press. Alfred Erich Senn and Alfonsas Eidintas, "Lithuanian Immigrants in America and the Lithuanian National Movement before 1914," ''Journal of American Ethnic History'', vol. 6, no. 2 (Spring 1987), pg. 7. This proscription extended for the rest of the 19th Century; in 1898 of 18 newspapers appearing in Lithuanian, 11 were published by Lithuanians in emigration in America and the other 7 were published in East Prussia. The LSDP was very nearly obliterated at birth by the
Okhrana The Department for the Protection of Public Safety and Order (), usually called the Guard Department () and commonly abbreviated in modern English sources as the Okhrana ( rus , Охрана, p=ɐˈxranə, a=Ru-охрана.ogg, t= The Guard) w ...
, which over the course of 1897 to 1899 managed to arrest a number of the party's leading activists. Approximately 280 socialist and
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
organisers were apprehended during this period, with subsequent trials leading to the
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
n exile of more than 40 people, including Domaševičius and Dzerzhinsky. Other top leaders, including Moravskis, were forced to flee the country to avoid being swept up in the Okhrana's dragnet. With the party leadership jailed or chased from the country, the LSDP very nearly ceased to exist as the 19th century drew to a close.


Resurgence

From 1900 to 1902, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania began to tentatively rise from the ashes behind a new crop of young revolutionaries. Chief among these were a pair of Lithuanian students in Vilnius, Vladas Sirutavičius and Steponas Kairys. It was the first Lithuanian political party and one of the major parties who initiated the assembly called
Great Seimas of Vilnius The Great Seimas of Vilnius (, also known as the ''Great Assembly of Vilnius'', the ''Grand Diet of Vilnius'', or the ''Great Diet of Vilnius'') was a major assembly held on December 4 and 5, 1905 (November 21–22, 1905 Old Style and New Style d ...
in 1905. The party was one of the major political powers during the Lithuanian independence period between 1918 and 1940. Following the election of 1926, the party formed a left-wing coalition government with Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union. This government was dismissed after the
1926 Lithuanian coup d'état The 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état ( Lithuanian: ) was a military coup d'état in Lithuania that replaced the democratically elected government with a authoritarian regime led by Antanas Smetona. The coup took place on 17 December 1926 and wa ...
. The authoritarian regime of
Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist and politician. He served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and later as the authoritarian head of state from 1926 until the Occu ...
banned all political parties in 1936.


Period of Soviet occupation

During the
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
occupation era, no democratically constituted political parties existed within Lithuania. Therefore, between 1945 and the 1989 restoration of independence, the party was assembled and worked covertly in exile.


1989–2001

In 1989, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania was restored. Kazimieras Antanavičius was elected to be party's leader. The party had 9 seats in the
Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas The Supreme Council – Restoration Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (officially known as Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania), was the supreme governing body, elected in 1990. Its first meeting was held on 10 March 1990, and its last ...
and was not successful in substantially increasing the number in the following elections, with 8 seats won in
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
and 12 in
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
. In 1999, the party's congress elected a new leader,
Vytenis Andriukaitis Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis (born 9 August 1951) is a member of the European Parliament from 2024 July, a former WHO Special Envoy for the European region, a former European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, a heart surgeon, a co-signa ...
and merger negotiations with the
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania The Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (, LDDP) was a political party in Lithuania. It was the successor of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Lithuania. The youth organization of LDDP was called Lithuanian Labourist Youth Union (). History ...
(LDDP)–the bulk of the former
Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania (; ) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clandestinely until it was legalized in 1940 after the Soviet invasion and occupation. The party was ...
(which had broken away from Moscow in 1989) began. Members of the party opposing the merger left to establish "Social democracy 2000" (later renamed " Social Democratic Union of Lithuania"). The SDPL-LDDP coalition won 51 of the 141 seats in the elections in 2000 (with 19 going to the Social Democrats). However, despite success in the elections, the coalition parties had to settle for a place in the opposition until 2001, when the collapse of the ruling coalition between Liberals and New Union allowed ex-President
Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was a Lithuanian politician who served as the fourth president of Lithuania from 1993 to 1998. He also served as the prime minister of Lithuania from 2001 to 2006. Brazauskas was the first democr ...
to form a government with New Union.


Since 2001

In 2001, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and the
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania The Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (, LDDP) was a political party in Lithuania. It was the successor of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Lithuania. The youth organization of LDDP was called Lithuanian Labourist Youth Union (). History ...
merged. The merged party kept the Social Democratic name, but was dominated by former Democratic Labour Party members (ex-Communists). After the merger, Algirdas Brazauskas was elected leader of the Social Democratic Party. By the beginning of 2004, negotiations between the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and various other parties to form electoral coalition. They managed to form electoral coalition called "Working for Lithuania" with their coalition partners, New Union. At the 2004 legislative elections, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania won 20 of the 141 seats in the Seimas (other 11 seats were won by the New Union), but managed to stay at the helm of successive coalition governments, including the minority government between 2006 and 2008. During the minority government, party's parliamentary group became the largest one in parliament, mainly due to defections from the Labour Party and the New Union (Social Liberals). Brazauskas resigned as the chairman of the party on 19 May 2007 and was replaced by
Gediminas Kirkilas Gediminas Kirkilas (; 30 August 1951 – 20 April 2024) was a Lithuanian politician who was Prime Minister of Lithuania from 2006 to 2008. Life and career Kirkilas was born in Vilnius in 1951. After returning from mandatory military service, ...
. At the 2008 elections, the party won 11.73% of the national vote and 25 seats in the
Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...
, five more than in the previous elections. However, its coalition partners, the Labour Party, the
New Union (Social Liberals) The New Union (Social Liberals) (, NS) was a social-liberal political party in Lithuania. The NS was a member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) and an observer of the Liberal International. It was founded in 1998 and is le ...
and the Lithuanian Peasants Popular Union, fared poorly and the party ended up in opposition to the
Homeland Union The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (, TS–LKD), also colloquially known as the Conservatives (), is a centre-right political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 members and 28 of 141 seats in the Seimas. Its current leader ...
-led government. On 7 March 2009, the party's congress elected a new leader, Algirdas Butkevičius. He was the party's candidate at the
2009 Lithuanian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Lithuania on 17 May 2009. A run-off would have been held on 7 June 2009, but was not necessary as Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected with 69% of the vote, with voter turnout just over the 50% threshold for the re ...
, coming in second place with 11.83% of the vote. At the 2012 parliamentary elections, the party took 38 seats and became the largest party in Parliament (although it lost in popular vote). Butkevičius became the
prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, forming a
coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
with the Labour Party, Order and Justice and
Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance or EAPL–CFA ( or LLRA–KŠS; or AWPL–ZCHR) is a political party in Lithuania. It positions itself as Christian-democratic. It has 3 seats in the Seimas, 1 seat in the E ...
. At the 2016 parliamentary elections, the party took 21 seats and formed a coalition with Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union. In 2017, the Social Democratic Party withdraw from coalition. In 2018, some party members left and formed the Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania. After this split, the party lost a lot of support, but in 2019 it partly recovered. At the 2020 parliamentary elections, the party achieved worse results than expected. Due to this,
Gintautas Paluckas Gintautas Paluckas (; born 19 August 1979) is a Lithuanian politician who has served as the 18th prime minister of Lithuania since December 2024. He was previously Deputy Mayor of Vilnius from 2015 to 2019, led the Lithuanian Social Democratic P ...
received criticism from party's board and resigned in 2021. After a leadership election,
Vilija Blinkevičiūtė Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (born 3 March 1960) is a Lithuanian lawyer and politician, Member of the European Parliament and former long-term Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Lithuania), Minister for Social Security and Labour. Blinkevičiūt� ...
(between 2002 and 2006 she was New Union (Social Liberals) member) was elected as the new leader. After election of Blinkevičiūtė, the party's support nearly doubled thanks to her personal popularity. In the 2024 parliamentary elections, the party achieved a "historic victory", finishing in first place with 19.32% of the popular vote and 52 out of 141 seats. While party chair Vilija Blinkevičiūtė had expressed her willingness to serve as prime minister during the campaign, she declined the role after the election, leading instead to the nomination of deputy chair Gintautas Paluckas. This unexpected change in leadership was criticized by the LSDP's potential coalition partners. After the election, further controversy arose when the Social Democrats invited the newly created populist party Dawn of Nemunas to join the ruling coalition, along with the
Union of Democrats "For Lithuania" The Union of Democrats "For Lithuania" (; DSVL) is a centre-left and green Lithuanian political party founded on 29 January 2022 by Saulius Skvernelis, former Prime Minister of Lithuania. The party is moderately socially conservative. Most of th ...
. The founder of Dawn of Nemunas,
Remigijus Žemaitaitis Remigijus Žemaitaitis (born 30 May 1982) is a Lithuanian far right politician and member of the Seimas. He is the founder and leader of the political party Dawn of Nemunas. Early life Žemaitaitis was born on 30 May 1982 in Šilutė. In 2005, ...
, is known for making antisemitic statements, and his party's inclusion sparked backlash from Lithuanian
civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair
Ben Cardin Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Maryland from 2007 until 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...
,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
MPs Roderich Kiesewetter and Michael Roth, Polish senator
Michał Kamiński Michał Tomasz Kamiński (born 28 March 1972) is a Polish politician and a member of the Senate with the Union of European Democrats. He was chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament from July 2009 until ...
, and the
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i embassy. Roth, the chair of the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the LSDP to reconsider their choice and claimed that it would threaten LSDP's membership in the
Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...
. However, no official PES condemnation of the coalition was issued, and the European party congratulated the Social Democrats with the formation of the Paluckas Cabinet on December 12.


Ideology and platform

LSDP is generally described as a
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
party. Historically, the party was criticized for lacking commitment to
social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
. According to political scientist , "before their split, the Social Democrats never managed to be a left-wing party. Although they said they were, their policies were right-wing, even the vocabulary was closer to the right." During the Eleventh Seimas from 2012 to 2016, when the party played a leading role in the Butkevičius Cabinet, it was criticized by left-wing intellectuals such as Andrius Bielskis and Arkadijus Vinokuras for lacking allegiance to left-wing ideas and for its
neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
policies, such as reforms to the Labour Code in 2016 which strengthened the position of employers in workplace relations. In 2017, after
Gintautas Paluckas Gintautas Paluckas (; born 19 August 1979) is a Lithuanian politician who has served as the 18th prime minister of Lithuania since December 2024. He was previously Deputy Mayor of Vilnius from 2015 to 2019, led the Lithuanian Social Democratic P ...
was elected as the party's chairman, LSDP declared a renewal of its ideology and values, reforming closer to a Western social democratic party. It introduced a new program, in which it affirmed commitment to
progressive tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...
ation, encouragement of
worker cooperative A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and Workers' self-management, self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a Company, firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one ...
s,
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
and
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
, and support for NATO and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, while at the same time opposing European
austerity In economic policy, austerity is a set of Political economy, political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through Government spending, spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three prim ...
policies. Several of the party's former leaders and members of the Seimas left the party in 2017 and 2018, including two former Prime Ministers,
Gediminas Kirkilas Gediminas Kirkilas (; 30 August 1951 – 20 April 2024) was a Lithuanian politician who was Prime Minister of Lithuania from 2006 to 2008. Life and career Kirkilas was born in Vilnius in 1951. After returning from mandatory military service, ...
and Algirdas Butkevičius. Most of them then established the Social Democratic Labour Party, later renamed to the Lithuanian Regions Party. However, this renewal was also criticized as incomplete and straddling the fence between progressiveness and the party's previous non-ideological
populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...
. After Paluckas' resignation,
Vilija Blinkevičiūtė Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (born 3 March 1960) is a Lithuanian lawyer and politician, Member of the European Parliament and former long-term Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Lithuania), Minister for Social Security and Labour. Blinkevičiūt� ...
was elected as LSDP's new chairman. The party's program was retained, and conservative former party members such as Artūras Skardžius were not accepted back into the party. However, the party has since focused most on criticism of the
Homeland Union The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (, TS–LKD), also colloquially known as the Conservatives (), is a centre-right political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 members and 28 of 141 seats in the Seimas. Its current leader ...
and progressive economic proposals over social justice and social reforms. 5 of 13 of the party's members of the Seimas voted against a proposed same-sex partnership law in 2021, even though the party's program was in favor of same-sex partnerships. The Left Alliance was founded in 2022 in response to the Social Democrats' alleged betrayal of left-wing values. The party supports lowering
voting age A legal voting age is the minimum age that a person is allowed to Voting, vote in a democracy, democratic process. For General election, general elections around the world, the right to vote is restricted to adults, and most nations use 18 year ...
to 16 in local elections.


Popular support

In early 1990s, the party had between 3 and 5 per cent support nationally. It got most support from areas with
light industry Light industry are Industry (economics), industries that usually are less Capital intensity, capital-intensive than heavy industry, heavy industries and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consum ...
(e. g.
Marijampolė Marijampolė (; also known by Marijampolė#Names, several other names) is the Capital city, capital of Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The city's population stood ...
,
Vilkaviškis Vilkaviškis () is a city in southwestern Lithuania, the administrative center of the Vilkaviškis District Municipality. It is located northwest from Marijampolė, at the confluence of and rivers. The city got its name from the Vilkauj ...
, Miklusėnai). By the end of decade, LSDP increased their support in
Radviliškis District Municipality Radviliškis District Municipality () is one of the seven List of municipalities of Lithuania, municipalities of Šiauliai County (''Šiaulių apskritis'') in Lithuania. Radviliškis town has been its center since 1950. Radviliškis district has ...
(probably, at expense of
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania The Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (, LDDP) was a political party in Lithuania. It was the successor of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Lithuania. The youth organization of LDDP was called Lithuanian Labourist Youth Union (). History ...
(LDDP)). After merger of these two parties, LSDP gained support from most supporters of LDDP. In early 2010s, the party lost support due to deindustrialisation, rise of public election committees and Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (e. g. in
Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...
, by 2011, got over 12 per cent of votes; however, in 2019, the party received just over 3 per cent of the votes).


Election results


Seimas


European Parliament


Members of the parliament

Social Democratic Party of Lithuania won 17 seats in the 2016 election, but the party split in October 2017. 9 members of the party were subsequently removed from the party.


Leaders

* Aloyzas Sakalas (14 January 1991 – 15 June 1999) *
Vytenis Andriukaitis Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis (born 9 August 1951) is a member of the European Parliament from 2024 July, a former WHO Special Envoy for the European region, a former European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, a heart surgeon, a co-signa ...
(15 June 1999 – 15 May 2001) *
Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was a Lithuanian politician who served as the fourth president of Lithuania from 1993 to 1998. He also served as the prime minister of Lithuania from 2001 to 2006. Brazauskas was the first democr ...
(15 May 2001 – 29 June 2007) *
Gediminas Kirkilas Gediminas Kirkilas (; 30 August 1951 – 20 April 2024) was a Lithuanian politician who was Prime Minister of Lithuania from 2006 to 2008. Life and career Kirkilas was born in Vilnius in 1951. After returning from mandatory military service, ...
(29 June 2007 – 12 May 2009) * Algirdas Butkevičius (12 May 2009 – 8 May 2017) *
Gintautas Paluckas Gintautas Paluckas (; born 19 August 1979) is a Lithuanian politician who has served as the 18th prime minister of Lithuania since December 2024. He was previously Deputy Mayor of Vilnius from 2015 to 2019, led the Lithuanian Social Democratic P ...
(8 May 2017 – 22 January 2021) *
Vilija Blinkevičiūtė Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (born 3 March 1960) is a Lithuanian lawyer and politician, Member of the European Parliament and former long-term Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Lithuania), Minister for Social Security and Labour. Blinkevičiūt� ...
(29 May 2021 – present)


See also


References


Further reading

* Diana Janušauskienė, "Youth Political Organizations in Lithuania," ''Polish Sociological Review,'' no. 139 (2002), pp. 337–356
In JSTOR
* Vladas Krivickas, "The Programs of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, 1896–1931," ''Journal of Baltic Studies,'' no. 2 (1980), pp. 99–111. * Vladimir Levin, "Lithuanians in Jewish Politics of the Late Imperial Period," in Vladas Sirutavičius and Darius Staliūnas (eds.), ''A Pragmatic Alliance: Jewish-Lithuanian Political Cooperation at the Beginning of the 20th Century.'' Budapest: Central European University Press, 2011; pp. 77–118. * Ezra Mendelsohn, ''Class Struggle in the Pale: The Formative Years of the Jewish Workers' Movement in Tsarist Russia.'' Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1970. * Toivo U. Raun, "The Revolution of 1905 in the Baltic Provinces and Finland," ''Slavic Review,'' no. 3 (1984), pp. 453–467. * Leonas Sabaliūnas, ''Lithuanian Social Democracy in Perspective.'' Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1990. * Leonas Sabaliūnas, "Social Democracy in Tsarist Lithuania, 1893–1904," ''Slavic Review,'' vol. 31, no. 2 (June 1972), pp. 323–342
In JSTOR
* James D. White, "National Communism and World Revolution: The Political Consequences of German Military Withdrawal from the Baltic Area in 1918–19," ''Europe-Asia Studies,'' vol. 46, no. 8 (1994), pp. 1349– 1369
In JSTOR
* James D. White, "The Revolution in Lithuania 1918–19," ''Soviet Studies,'' vol. 23, no. 2 (Oct. 1971), pp. 186–200
In JSTOR


External links

* {{Authority control Political parties in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Political parties established in 1896 1896 establishments in the Russian Empire Social democratic parties Socialist parties in Lithuania Parties represented in the European Parliament Full member parties of the Socialist International Members of the Labour and Socialist International Progressive Alliance Party of European Socialists member parties Centre-left parties in Europe Organizations based in Vilnius Second International parties