Lithuanian Regions Party

The Lithuanian Regions Party (, LRP), also translated as the Lithuanian Party of Regions, is a political party in Lithuania. It was founded in 2018 as the Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (, LSDDP) following a split of members from Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP; also joined by former members of the Labour Party) after the LSDP's decision to exit a coalition government with the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union in 2017.

History

The party was a junior partner in government in the Seimas, Lithuania's unicameral Parliament, from 2018 to 2020. At the time, the LSDDP had 50 sections.

The party scored badly in the 2019 European Parliament election, scoring only 2.4% of votes and failing to elect any MEP. The party won slightly over 3% of the popular vote and 3 seats in the 2020 parliamentary election (only one MP, Andrius Palionis, was reelected). By this, the party became eligible to state dotation, but it was not allowed to form a separate parliamentary group, as a minimum of seven MPs are required for its formation. To do so, the LSDDP aligned with the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, Freedom and Justice (formerly Order and Justice) and independent right-wing deputies Petras Gražulis and to form the Lithuanian Group of Regions ().

In July 2021, the party adopted the name Lithuanian Regions Party. Jonas Pinskus, a former member of the Labour Party who joined the LSDDP in 2018, was elected chairman. He emphasized taking the party to a regionalist direction and emphasized growing differences between the Regions Party and LSDP.

Pinskus' wife and Mayor of Širvintos, Živilė Pinskuvienė, joined the Regions Party alongside her electoral committee "Živilė Pinskuvienė's team – for a successful Širvintos region" () in 2022. The Regions Party gained 73% of the vote in Širvintos in the 2023 Lithuanian local elections, the only municipality in which the party earned the largest share of the vote.

Political positions

In its party program, the Regions Party describes itself as a centre-left political party. Political science journals, such as ''Geographia Polonica'' and the '' Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies'', classified the party as left-wing. It supports decentralization of the political system, a social market economy, and a stronger social safety net but at the same time supports the formation of additional free economic zones in poorer Lithuanian regions. It opposes further European integration. The Regions Party is a supporter of the right-wing, anti-LGBT, and traditionalist Lithuanian Family Movement, and participates in their protests and demonstrations. It initiated an attempt to ban "LGBT propaganda" in the Prienai District Municipality in 2023; this proposal did not receive support from the local council. Six of their original deputies were part of the similarly named post-communist Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (LDDP).

Election results

Seimas

European Parliament

Municipal

Chairmen

*Gediminas Kirkilas – 2018–2021
* Jonas Pinskus – from 2021

References

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Political parties established in 2018
2018 establishments in Lithuania
Socialist parties in Lithuania
Social democratic parties
Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Lithuania
Opposition to same-sex marriage in Europe
Labour parties