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The new president of the LSDP thanked all of her and the party’s supporters. “I am very happy and proud of our party for their active participation in the elections during the pandemic. I would also like to thank the people who voted for me and those who did not. It is important that they are active. We all need a Social Democratic Party of left strong in Lithuania like air, fire and water. I want to rejoice that, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary, the party elected a party leader. In difficult times, women bear the most responsible burden, “he said.
According to V.Blinkevičiūtė, his main jobs are team building and immediate work for victory in municipal elections. The party’s goal is to restore voters and their trust.
Photo by Vidmantas Balkūnas / 15min / Vilija Blinkevičiūtė and Juozas Olekas
He also invited losing candidate J. Olek to work on his team. He did not elaborate on whether he will accept the president’s invitation, but said he will continue to work for the party.
V.Blinkevičiūtė said that one of the main goals within the party is to increase its unity. “I would like us all to be united, that we listen to each other, that we listen to each other, that we make decisions that are discussed together, so that all the friends of our party can be heard. It is important that the program of the left party can be communicated in a language that everyone can understand, ”said the new party president.
The woman who now works in the European Parliament said that, at least for the moment, she would not resign and would go back to work in Lithuania. “I think it can be completely reconciled, and if life shows otherwise, then I will make the right decisions,” he said.
Photo by Arno Strumila / 15min / Vilija Blinkevičiūtė
When asked about further work with other opposition parties, V. Blinkevičiūtė stated that the LSDP would work together on issues that are relevant to the party. She does not see the need to formally join the coalition.
“Given the current situation, the way both ‘peasants’ and ‘workers’ work together, we Social Democrats are certainly not satisfied. Because so far, that opposition coalition does not seem serious to them. It seems to me that very often they do not find common ground between them. It would be completely unacceptable to us, “he said.
More than 7.9 thousand people participated in the general election of the president of the LSDP. party members. The party president’s electoral commission will approve the final results of the elections on May 14.
The LSDP president-elect will take office on May 29 and a party convention will be held on that day.
V.Blinkevičiūtė, who won the election of the LSDP president, has worked in the European Parliament since 2009. From 2000 to 2008 she was Minister of Labor and Social Security. In 2004-2009 he was a member of the Seimas.
In 2000, V. Blinkevičiūtė joined the New Union led by Artūras Paulauskas, and since 2006 he has been a member of the LSDP.
Photo by Vidmantas Balkūnas / 15min / Vilija Blinkevičiūtė
The president of the LSDP is elected for two years. For the direct election of the party leader to be considered successful, at least one third of the parties must vote in it.
Political scientist: Much will depend on whether the party resorts to traditional social democratic values.
15 minutes Political scientist Jūratė Novagrockienė said the LSDP party’s long-term strategy will depend on whether the newly elected president will leave office in the European Parliament.
Although both presidential candidates are MEPs, Olek is still in his first term in Brussels.
For V. Blinkevičiūtė, the current legislature in the European Parliament is already the third, so, in the opinion of J. Novograckienė, it is further removed from Lithuanian affairs.
“If the president-elect in the first year does not leave the European Parliament, it would be very serious in the second, as the municipal elections are approaching,” he said.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Laura Bielinis
The political scientist Lauras Bielinis also agrees with this opinion. “In fact, distance and being far from Lithuania can prevent V. Blinkevičiūtė from successfully organizing the life of the party. This is a problem because the serious and energetic functioning of the party requires a leader who works here and now. Trying to control a lot. Remotely it can be complicated. He should really leave Brussels, go back to Lithuania and pursue a policy of reorganization and activation of the party from there. ” 15 minutes commented.
J. Novograckienė also believes that the new president will have to address another important issue: if the party needs real social democratic values, which have been transformed and coincide with the old traditional line of cosmopolitanism and protection of human rights. “The Social Democrats themselves speak that the Freedom Party expects the support of the Social Democratic Party in its initiatives. The Freedom Party is cosmopolitan, it fights for human rights, so it seems that there must be close points, ”said the political scientist.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Jūratė Novagrockienė
He added that this is not the case in reality: today’s Social Democratic voter does not follow the classic party values in this direction.
“If we look at the Social Democratic voter, he is certainly not a supporter of those new human rights. He is among the same skeptics of association laws. It will largely depend on how the president feels the pulse of the potential voter and how much he is capable of to move away from the “peasants” as they once took the votes of the Social Democratic voters. Much work awaits, mostly valuable. It will also be an attempt to attract voters in regions where the party is stronger than in the city, “predicted the political scientist .
V.Blinkevičiūtė may become one of the main party presidents
After becoming head of the LSDP, V. Blinkevičiūtė would be one of the main presidents of the parties represented in the Seimas. If Juozas Olekas (65) had won the election, he would have surpassed only his former partner, the chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Labor Party, Gediminas Kirkilas, in terms of age.
According to L. Bielinis, although V. Blinkevičiūtė faces a number of challenges, age will not be one of them.
“The most important criterion for a party president is not age, she needs completely different qualities. The party needs confidence, so I think V.Blinkevičiūtė can gather people around her, because there are enough people who trust her so much in him. party and society, and that trust is sincere enough, ”said the political scientist.
For some time, there has been a tendency in the country’s politics to elect younger politicians to the positions of party leaders. From 2017 to 2021 Gintautas Paluckas, 41, who led the LSDP, tried to reform the party, but had to resign after the unsuccessful Seimas elections and little support within the party. In a multiple constituency in 2020. In the Seimas elections, the LSDP collected 9.25 percent. votes, received 5 seats in a single member. A total of 13 party representatives work today at the Seimas.
J. Novagrockienė speculates that the LSDP will not abandon such a plan and in the next two years, as long as V. Blinkevičiūtė leads the party, a change is possible. “I see Mindaugas Sinkevičius as the most promising candidate. He has also volunteered now, but I think he has given up due to the heavy workload. He is the golden mean. G.Paluckas has no charisma, and Liutauras Gudžinskas he has ideas, he wrote a great program, but I don’t think it’s acceptable to everyone within the party, “said the political scientist.
The Social Democratic Party is the largest in Lithuania, it has more than 16.5 thousand. members. It is represented in the Seimas by 13 politicians.
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