The intrigue of the next elections: the “liberals” promise to offer you an ideologically acceptable presidential candidate

“We have been discussing representation for some time, be it the Seimas, self-government, the European Parliament or the institution of the president … We have always thought about how to make the liberal ideas that guide us.

The presidency is no exception. And in fact, Lithuania has not yet had a president or a president who clearly expresses liberal values. There were more liberal and illiberal presidents, but in a liberal sense, there was no valuable president. I think we could offer that candidacy, and it could be both people in politics and someone we can support, although he does not belong to our party, but is a liberal, “A. Armonaitė told the ELTA news agency.

Researcher at the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences (VU TSPMI) of Vilnius University, investigating the electorates of political parties, prof. Ainė Ramonaitė noted that this party is ambitious.

“It just came to our attention then. That courage of yours may attract some people. But I think there is a bit of an exaggeration here,” said A. Ramonaitė.

According to the professor, the main reason for this would be that this party has a very clear specific evaluative orientation, which is attractive for some people, but certainly for few.

“And the president, according to our electoral system, is elected by universal suffrage, and must gather the majority of the public. It is difficult to imagine a candidate who corresponds to the profile of courage promoted by the Freedom Party and for which half of the Lithuanian population would vote in the near future. Unless that candidate somehow tried to maneuver, but then he would still have to give up a position of certain value. So the question is whether the party would like a “lukewarm” version, “said A. Ramonaitė.

There is still a long way to go for the necessary support

According to the researcher, it is not easy to answer the question of which part of Lithuanian society the values ​​represented by the Freedom Party are acceptable.

“As for the most striking and controversial issue of LGBT rights, it reaches 25%. Those who would prefer to agree or agree with the marriage of homosexual people. This is a more radical option than the one offered by the Party of freedom.

Of course, these percentages cannot be interpreted so sharply because not all people participate in elections. If there are so many in the wider society, it is not clear how many of them would participate in the elections, but half of them are still far away, ”said A. Ramonaitė.

In general, according to the researcher, there is a significant age factor in terms of value differences.

“Let’s say the 25-year-old is very different from the rest of society, and then the 35-year-old is a transitional option. The main electorate of this party is under 35 years of age. Although they also take some from other age groups, ”said A. Ramonaitė.

Voters are more liberal in several directions

The professor pointed out that, in general, the electorate of this party is more liberal in several directions.

In Voice of My Questionnaire we had more questions: about the legalization of cannabis, the beach in Lukiškės square, the writing of three non-Lithuanian letters. Those questions correlate well with each other – if a person is more liberal on one topic, they are likely to be more liberal on another.

Taken together, the index of those issues shows that voters for the Freedom Party stand out from other parties. Interestingly, the voters of the Liberal Movement are widely separated. Because the voters of the Liberal Movement are much more focused than the voters of the Freedom Party, ”said A. Ramonaitė.

Is in bad position

According to the political scientist, in general, the Freedom Party is in a privileged position due to its focus on the younger generation, which is expanding more and more.

“Its main objective now should be not to damage its image, to maintain the image of a respectable and at the same time vigorous party, and to continue growing that electorate because it is growing.” There is the possibility that during each election the proportion of the electorate that sympathizes with them will increase, ”said A. Ramonaitė.

However, according to the professor, there is another problem: the relationship of young people with politics is enigmatic.

“They are not very politically engaged and they don’t want to waste too much of their time on things like politics. It is easy to attract the attention of young people once, but how to maintain it is another question, ”said A. Ramonaitė.

The interview “Eltai” of the freedom party A. Armonaitė can be read here.