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The top ten on the electoral list are each party’s business card, seal, statement of priorities and values. What message are the parties sending about themselves to the voter who will elect the new Seimas on October 11? “Kauno diena” continues the rehearsal cycle, this time featuring the elite of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP).
Friends are no longer friends
This year’s LSDP elections are the first since the “revolution” of 2017. Not a single politician unequivocally associated with this party is now on the lists of other parties. The former leader of the list four years ago, the now non-partisan Algirdas Butkevičius is running with the Greens this time. Two more in 2016 The names of the first ten – Gediminas Kirkilas and Irena Šiaulienė – and now in the first ten, only others – the labor parties of the Social Democrats, and for the Social Democrats they are no longer friends, as the Social Democrats used to address, but opponents.
Losing in 2016 Parliamentary elections forced the Social Democrats to search for the reasons, the culprits and a new leader. In April 2017, the then Deputy Mayor of Vilnius Gintautas Paluckas won the first direct elections for the president of the LSDP. He called for the blowing of rose dust on the lapels, a return to true social democracy, and soon suggested that parties vote on whether to remain in the ruling majority, which is far from in line with this ideology. It was decided to retire. Then the veterans of the LSDP faction in the Seimas rebelled: they wanted to stay in power. In the end, it all ended in a painful divorce and a new Social Democratic Labor Party was formed.
The party led by G. Palucks climbed to third place in the poll.
The divorce was painful, but much more so for social workers: after initially gathering a similar number of supporters in public opinion polls, the party led by G. Paluckas gradually rose to third position, and G. Kirkilas descended below the sign to enter the Seimas. In the July Vilmorus / Lietuvos rytas poll, the LSDP, although it lost 5 percentage points of supporters in a month, maintained its third position and now, counting those who have opinion, it would receive 10.8 percent. voter support.
The top ten started to fall apart
However, the Social Democrats, who have lost many “crrestomatic” members, clearly lack bright and well-known names. Following the publication of the list, the outgoing European Commissioner, former LSDP presidential candidate Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, was missing a lot. Only after returning from Brussels last December did he say in an interview with Kaunas Day that he did not rule out the possibility of actively participating in the activities of the Social Democratic Party, and even considered giving his name to a broad coalition if the Social Democrats held such elections. However, V.P. Andriukaitis has now stated that he will not be able to run, arguing that this is inconsistent with his obligations to international organizations.
After publishing the list, the outgoing European commissioner, the former LSDP presidential candidate, V.P. Andriukaitis.
The formation of the elite ten for the Social Democrats went smoothly. As soon as the list of candidates was presented, it began to fall apart within a few days. Third on the list is 36-year-old Mindaugas Sinkevičius, one of the best-known Social Democrats of the younger generation, the President of the Association of Municipalities, the Mayor of Jonava, the Minister of Economy, and 36-year-old Mindaugas Sinkevičius, arguing that he is hampered by obligations to both Jonavis and his family.
It would seem understandable: Mr Sinkevičius had once stepped down as mayor when the party delegated him to the finance ministers. However, after the LSDP withdrew from the ruling coalition, it lost its post. Now, for the third time in a direct election, the elected mayor does not want to disappoint the Jonavises again. Of course, the decision could only be made before the electoral roll was drawn up and published.
Apparently, the party chairman objected to the fact: a few hours before Mr. Sinkevičius’s declaration that he would not run for the Seimas, G. Paluckas explained that he was still aware of Mr. Sinkevičius’s hesitations, but that he had removed from the electoral list, it used to be such a possibility is low. However, a few hours later he announced that he would not run for the Seimas. By the way, M.Sinkevičius in 2017. He was a competitor of G.Paluckas in the election of the party president, but he lost.
Changes – last minute
G. Paluckas was led into a similar situation by the only guest star in the top ten: Professor Romas Lazutka, a well-known economist. Even before the electoral lists were published, the LSDP announced that its expert had been added to its team. He obtained a high fifth place on the list of Social Democrats and a single-member constituency; it is not in vain that all parties can dream of such a popular and respected person. The professor did not deny that he had received invitations to pursue politics before, but only this time did he discover a team with whom he would like to do so.
At the last moment guest star R. Lazutka withdrew from the list of Social Democrats.
But unexpectedly last week, he told Eltai: “Neither I nor I participate, the lists have not yet been published, they are not registered.”
G. Paluck admitted that he was unaware of such hesitations. On the last day before the final list was presented to the Central Election Commission, there were still conversations that ended in a fiasco in the LSDP: the most popular person in the top ten refused to run for personal reasons.
The Social Democrats have already prepared a contingency for such a case: they have interviewed Vilija Targamadze, an expert educator who is also known to the public. She does not belong to any party.
For the leader, electoral failures
Of course, it is uncomfortable for a party leader who does not know firsthand his intentions to withdraw from the list of elite places. This shows a lack of authority. It is true that it is still very important in the party compared to the public. Although G. Paluckas has already received the support of his party colleagues twice in the election of the party president, he was absent in three elections last year.
When the Vilnius City Council was elected last year, the Social Democrats led by him were left with nothing, and he himself was only seventh in the mayoral elections with 2.6 percent. votes. After that, G. Paluckas also lost the election to the vacant post of a member of the Seimas in Žirmūnai as sole member. As he is not a member of the Seimas or the municipal council, nor does he hold other positions, except that of president of the LSDP, he is less visible and audible in public space.
Few believe that his career is overshadowed by the fact that the court in 2012. was found guilty of misusing the service in a public procurement tender: he, as head of the Vilnius municipal administration, entered into a non-transparent contract for the extermination of rats. It is said much more often that Paluck, as a politician, simply lacks charisma. And they will not learn, or they have to or not.
Despite not being a very popular leader in society, the Social Democrats still did not give in to the new fashion of entrusting the party to the elections to a non-partisan instead of the party president. Thus, without ranking, G. Paluckas is now the first on the list, although he was only 41st in the last Seimas elections, and only the will of the electorate rose from fourteen places to 27th place.
It was also rated by the public
After the party chairman, the second member of the Seimas is Rasa Budbergytė (who was third in 2016), whose biography includes many high-ranking positions in Lithuania and international institutions: he was Auditor General of Lithuania, Minister of Finance, deputy representative of Lithuania at the European Court of Auditors.
In the biography of R.Budbergytė – many senior officials in Lithuania and international institutions.
It was ranked fourth in the LSDP board ranking. But the Social Democrats offered to rank the list and the public. Almost 26 thousand. R.Budbergytė became the leader of the will of the voters.
Second, with just one vote behind, Julius Sabatauskas, followed by M.Sinkevičius, fourth – the young Juozas Olekas (probably some voters thought he was a veteran Social Democrat, now Juozas Olekas MEP), followed by Algirdas Sysas, Dovilė Šakalienė, Linas Jonauskas, Orinta Leiputė.
The third theme dilemma
There was no big dilemma for second place and third place caused confusion. After M.Sinkevičius withdrew from the elections, the LSDP decided not to put the entire list in one place, but to decide in council what it was worth to get into the top three. It was decided to elevate the LSDP Executive Secretary, Chief of Cabinet to Seimas, from 2012 to 2016. Vice Minister of the Environment, L. Jonauskas, 41 years old. The decision is really justified, because it was the first in the ranking of the party council (the second – J. Sabatauskas, the third – O. Leiputė, then R. Budbergytė, Raminta Popovienė). In the public’s opinion, L. Jonauskas is also worthy of a top seventh place.
When asked how he jumped from 56th place to the elite in the last election, L. Jonauskas says that he worked very actively in the party. But, I suppose, maybe four years ago, his place on the party list would have been different if he had been ranked by fellow party members and not by the then party president in a tight circle. So it’s no wonder voters have worked hard to fix it. For example, L.Jonauskas climbed to 34th place in 22 positions, and Auksė Kontrimienė even dropped from 9th to 35th place.
L. Jonauskas can be called a social democrat from the very roots. Mažeikiškis grew up in a working family. From fifth grade onward, she helped her mother do extra cleaning work in the afternoons, and even in twelfth grade, in preparation for her high school exams, she had to find places to earn money so she could buy essential groceries. .
But the future politician received letters of honor for advanced science and excellent sports results, and he also attended music school. He was an active and founding member of the Mažeikiai Youth Council. In the framework of the “Future Educator” program he studied at the Vilnius Pedagogical University, together with just over thirty students from all over Lithuania he was selected for the pilot project project School of Young Leaders.
The politician has no doubt that the difficult situation shaped his social democratic vision, so at the age of eighteen he already had a clear awareness of his vocation to help ordinary people and joined the Social Democratic Party.
Gender equality
Fourth on the list is Orinta Leiputė, a former deputy mayor of Kaunas, a member of the Seimas from the previous term and president of the Union of Social Democratic Women.
But electoral failures have now left her without political office. After failing in 2016. In the parliamentary elections, the mayor of Kaunas invited her to advise on matters of youth, culture, education, sports and the activities of the elderly. However, when Kaunas Social Democrats did not win a single term in municipal elections last year, she also lost the position of adviser to the mayor. After that, O. Leiputė worked on projects in the field of education, but the employment contract expired during the quarantine, and the politician currently decided to focus only on preparations for the elections.
Besides R.Budbergytė, O. Leiputė and V. Targamadzmad, in the first ten LSDP – two more women, both members of the Seimas: the seventh – D.Šakalienė, the eighth – R. Popovienė. By comparison, only one woman made it into the top ten social workers.
The LSDP has introduced gender quotas for its roster: each of the five cannot have more than three members of the same sex. According to O. Leiputė, quotas are still necessary, although now the list is almost natural. The goal is to have the same number of women and men on the list. This time, when V. Targamadze unexpectedly appeared on the list, it happened.
By the way, D.Šakalienė is the only finalist of the match in the top ten, not to mention that at some point in his youth, G. Paluckas was a former member of the Young Conservative League. D.Šakalienė made his political debut in 2016. Upon arriving at the Seimas with the Union of Peasants and Greens, he saw himself as a liberal, but soon realized that he was a Social Democrat. However, unlike many party tourists, she came to the Social Democrats shortly before the elections, considering which party she preferred to run for: in the Seimas faction, she soon became a member of this party as of November 2017.
D.Šakalienė is the only runner-up of the party among the top ten Social Democrats.
Now in his eighties, R. Popovienė is the first member of his Seimas in 2012. He won in the single-member constituency of Kaunas-Kėdainiai without still being partisan. Although nominated by the Social Democrats, it also received the support of conservatives, peasants, police, as well as public organizations. Local people appreciated her care for disabled and low-income families: she established the Kaunas District Social Services Center, which she led. R. Popovienė also has government workplace experience: 2000–2007. He served as Chief Specialist of the Kaunas District Municipal Administration and later became Deputy Director of Administration.
A debutante
Two out of ten, of the old “real” Social Democrats. The sixth Social Democrat in it in 1989. became Julius Sabatauskas. He is in the Seimas for the fifth term.
Now the ninth Algirdas Sys was initially included in the Social Democratic electoral lists as a trade union representative, then he became a member of this party. He is now a member of the Seimas for the sixth term.
By the way, last year he challenged the current president of the LSDP, G. Paluckas: he stood for the election of the party president. Although he didn’t have much of a chance of winning, he wanted to strongly criticize the president for the lost municipal elections in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, and other problems in the party.
Robert Duchnevič, just 29 years old, finishes in the top ten at the last minute. After M.Sinkevičius withdrew from the electoral route and regrouped the list, the council decided to raise the policy of the former 16th district of Vilnius. He is a member of the Vilnius District Council, was the LSDP candidate for mayor, the chairman of the Vilnius district branch of the LSDP. A Social Democrat who works as a lawyer in the Department of National Minorities, an active, volunteer public figure, is a member of the Riflemen’s Union, a volunteer firefighter and participates in the activities of the Polish Discussion Club. It is the initiator of various social and civic actions, such as the commemoration of February 16 in Nemenčinė, when the 250 m long Lithuanian state flag was raised.
Guests were not rated
Half of the top ten LSDP members are current Seimas members. Of the current nine members of the faction, only Bronius Bradauskas is not running. It is true that his position seemed to have been “inherited” by his son Dainor. According to L. Jonauskas, the party’s executive secretary, he joined the LSDP last September and was a Social Democrat until March. But just before the ranking of the list failed to achieve the desired single-member constituency, D. Bradauskas replaced the Social Democrats with social workers and went to the polls with them.
Up to four of the top ten will have turned 60 on Election Day, and Chief A.Sys will be 66. But R. Duchnevich, 29, a member of the “last minute” ten, has significantly rejuvenated the median age. So the average age of the elite on the LSDP roster is now 48.2 years.
It seems that the younger Social Democrats are invading the elite. Tadas Prajara, a 34-year-old active Marijampolė, hitherto unknown in national politics, ranked ninth in the public ranking.
Although the complete political debutant in the top ten is only one: prof. R. Lazutka, but as in the next lines of the list and more. By the way, the invited members of the list were not qualified, their places were determined by the party presidium.
In 15th place is Vaidas Navickas, an economist who has lived in the United States for 27 years and has now returned to Lithuania, and who was attracted to the Social Democrats with his desire to renew himself, to become a truly left party. Saulius Čaplinskas, Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and AIDS, was ranked 19, the television host, the journalist Giedrius Drukteinis ranked 20, the world track cycling champion Simona Krupeckaitė ranked 25 and the psychologist Andrius Kaluginas ranked 40.
So it remains to be seen where the voter will place on the entire post-revolutionary LSDP list.
Top ten of the Social Democratic Party
1. Gintautas Paluckas
2. Rasa Budbergytė
3. Linas Jonauskas
4. Orinta Leiputė
5. Vilija Targamadze
6. Julius Sabatauskas
7. Dovilė Šakalienė
8. Raminta Popovienė
9. Algirdas Sysas
10. Robert Duchnevič
Current Seimas members: 5
Existing members of city councils: 1
It was in 2016. on the tenth electoral list: 4
Age: 29 to 66 years, mean 48.2
Gender equality: men 5, women 5
Debutants of the policy: 1
Party Finalists – Top: 1
Non-party members: 1
Controversial cases: 0
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