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The top ten on the electoral list are a business card for each party, a hallmark, a statement of priorities and values. The message that the parties send about themselves to the voter who will elect the new Seimas on October 11, “Kauno diena” will analyze the cycle of trials, which we started today from the Liberal Movement.
Party leaders developed not only in the capital but also in the regions; young but already with political experience; the balance of existing Seimas members and potential newcomers; a politician – debutante; one is a feeling that questions the ideological decency of the liberals. Such is the application of the Liberal Movement (LS) for the elections to the new Seimas.
Sensation – former “peasant”
“I would not say I was very surprised. I was glad that we have experienced national politicians and representatives of the younger generation who are very active in the life of the party, such as Andrius Bagdonas, who ranked highest in the internal ranking of the match”. “It showed the faith of the party members that they came to us again. And there is no need to introduce others, they are well-known politicians, and I am glad they are in the top ten,” asked the internal LS ranking. Čmilytė-Nielsen.
However, the name of one – Viktor “Francis”, the “former citizen” of the President of the Seimas, appears in the list of liberals, some call it black humor or treason to liberal values, others – pragmatism, others – only the opening of the liberals to diverse opinions. Liberal leaders claim that after resigning from the “peasants,” V. Franckietis changed, he repeatedly accepted the liberal proposal, because he especially appreciates freedom of expression. But even as a “peasant,” the President of the Seimas brought to life a series of winged phrases.
Liberal leaders claim that after resigning from the “peasants,” V. Franckietis changed, he repeatedly accepted the liberal proposal, because he especially appreciates freedom of expression.
Liberals were expected to rank V.Pranckietis in a suitable position at the bottom of the list by ranking the election list, but he was among the leaders, third.
After that, a liberal veteran, energy expert, Martynas Nagevičius, even suspended his party membership, outraged that his party colleagues had chosen a pragmatic path: in favor of a certain electorate, he classified a person whom the leaders Liberals recently called Zero Understanding Democracy.
Where will V. Prackietis be found after the voter ranking?
Incidentally, he is the only migrant in the top ten. Others were consistently members of liberal parties, it is true that those parties divided, merged.
The ornament became politics.
V.Čmilytė-Nielsen assured that the liberals are not looking for guest stars this time, however, they did not resist inviting famous people from the country. Not only V. Prackietis, but also Raimundas Lopatas, political scientist and professor at the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences of the Vilnius University. But he, unlike V. Pranckietis, has always been known to the public as a person who professes and promotes liberal values, and after deciding to run for the liberals, he became a member of this party.
Although R. Lopata makes his debut in the role of politician, he has been a political theorist, a political scientist all his life, and this experience in the Seimas would be useful. Therefore, seventh position on the list, while received and somewhat in advance, is likely worthwhile for liberals. Of course, the question arises: why did the political scientist decide to join this party only before the elections?
Incidentally, in the past, liberals did not avoid guest stars. Here, Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna received second place on the list in the last Seimas election, although he had a lot in common with the policy that he was the bodyguard of President Algirdas Brazauskas for many years.
He was not a very active member of the Seimas, but the Liberals did not disappoint him, this time he won a fourth place high. By the way, he did not become a member of LS.
Polls: V.Čmilytė-Nielsen among the presidents of various parties, in the highest position.
The star shone in Nida
V.Čmilytė-Nielsen was unclassified: the party council decided it was not necessary, as he was recently elected president by a general vote of the party members. Andrius Bagdon, a 45-year debut in national politics in the top 160 rankings, says he did not expect such a result. “The colleagues were pleasantly surprised. I will try not to disappoint them,” promises the LS vice president, a board member, the chairman of the Neringa branch, a member of the Neringa municipal council and the leader of the opposition.
What led to such a jump? In 2016, he was ranked 14 on the list, and voters took him even further to position 20. According to V.Čmilytė-Nielsen, A.Bagdonas is characterized by exceptional activity, nobody communicates as much with his party colleagues in Lithuania and abroad. Along with the party president, he traveled extensively to meet with party branches, urging them to renew.
Bagdon attributes this success to his continued work in the party since 2012, when he became a member (formerly of the Central and Liberal Union, but retired after joining the Nation’s Resurrection Party), and especially to party renewal. when choosing a new president. V.Čmilytė-Nielsen chose him as one of his deputies, began to work more on national politics, expressing his opinion in public, and perhaps the readers of political commentaries already noticed it. By the way, when he was elected to the LS board last September, he also scored well in the ranking – he was fourth.
A. Bagdon became involved in political activities at the age of 31, when the mayor of Neringa, Stasys Mikelis, invited him to become his social worker at Seimas. Four years later, in 2009, he became a member of the Neringa Municipal Council and was chairman of the Youth Affairs Committee. Now in the local council, for the fourth term, elected president of the Control Committee.
Neringiškis also became increasingly established in LS: in 2012. Elected president of the Neringa branch, one year later, chairman of the Klaipėda Region Coordinating Council, and a couple of years later, member of the LS Board. 2014-2016 Antanas Guoga, representing the Liberals in the European Parliament (EP), elected him as their assistant in Lithuania.
Last year, A. Bagdon also competed for the position of LS president. Collected 10.3 percent. votes, he remained third among the four candidates nominated by the party divisions.
In the Seimas elections to be held in October, LS entrusted A. Bagdon with a single-member constituency of foreign Lithuanians. Neringiškis says he will try to show that they are important to Lithuania and that they are welcome here. He identifies job creation in Lithuania, the theme of preserving citizenship, online voting in elections, and the spelling of original personal names as his priorities.
During the last years, A. Bagdon has been present in all the elections, except in the presidency. Last year, in the EP elections, LS was fifth on the list and did not receive a mandate. The election of the municipal councils was successful, but not the mayor: for the second time, he sought this position, but in 2015. he came out third and last year second.
Social democrat Darius Jasaitis, who was re-elected mayor in the first round, wishes the former competitor in the Seimas election success, especially since there is a great need for people with experience in self-government, and A. Bagdon has certainly racked them up.
Still, is the opposition leader making the mayor’s life? D.Jasaitis is glad that it is not the case that the opposition votes against all issues: he supports good decisions, he disputes only for the ways and the sequence of their implementation. “But it happens that sometimes it gets stuck in non-essential things, although the complete solution is good, but I don’t like a little thing and I vote against. I would like to see everything,” says the mayor.
The politicians who competed in the mayoral elections were Neringa people from birth, known from an early age. Only a year older than A. Bagdon, D. Jasaitis says they both attended a sports school and went to sailing camps. A. Bagdon has repeatedly become the Lithuanian sailing champion. The mayor praises that he is a good athlete, a great politician who represents young people. Together with other like-minded people, A. Bagdon established the first youth organization in Neringa, the Neringa Youth Roundtable, and started the establishment of the Neringa Sports Club “Kuršiai”.
Nida’s rising liberal star introduces himself as a representative of small businesses. However, in the questionnaires, it refers to the Neringa Municipal Council in the workplace. D. Jasasaitis says that only two take the salary of a board member, including A. Bagdon. The symbolic salary is 12-16 euros per month, depending on the hours earned.
Of course, this is legal, only to the extent that it is surprising that in 2016. He was mentioned in the Seimas elections as one of the most generous supporters of the LS election campaign: he donated 3,000. A politician with his own business still receives a salary of several euros as a member of the council.
Bagdon says he has been in business since he was fifteen. Twenty established their own business, had a store, coffee shops. Now she has a grocery store, she rents out various accommodations and business premises. However, says A. Bagdon, work in the municipality, political and social activities in youth organizations occupy 70-80 percent. his time, and therefore refers to the workplace of the municipal council.
Another unique detail from Neringa’s liberal biography is that he graduated from school, even from high school, at a mature age. “At fifteen I decided that I knew everything and could do business. Then I realized that I needed science, knowledge. I had to go back to the school bench when I was older. Now I advise everyone to study better in time,” he smiles. A. Bagdon.
He graduated from the Kaunas Service Business Employees Vocational Training Center at the age of thirty-three, and a year later at the International Baltic Sea Academy, at the age of thirty, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in tourism and leisure from the University. Klaipeda, and at forty he became a master of recreation and tourism management.
Opposition leader Neringa is married and has two daughters.
Process: In recent years, Bagdon has been present in all elections, except the presidential one.
Autonomy: a springboard
The fifth on the list of liberals is Edita Rudelienė, first vice president of the LS, president of the Trakai branch. She is another debutant in national politics, but she already has experience in local government: since 2011, member of the Trakai District Council, since 2014. – mayor.
If he wins the mandate of a member of the Seimas, Trakai will have to reelect the mayor. By the way, as for Elektrėnai: the eighteenth on the LS list is the mayor of this municipality Kestutis Vaitukaitis.
“E.Rudelienė is an excellent and beloved mayor. He did not make the easy decision to apply for the Seimas. But he has been working in the municipality for a good decade and decided that he could be even more useful to his beloved country, representing him in the Seimas “
Another LS vice-president and a well-known municipal politician, the former deputy mayor of Kaunas, Simonas Kairys, completes the Liberal Elite Ten. He is a Samogitian, but has lived in Kaunas since graduating from school. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Vytautas Magnus University, and then a master’s degree in law from Mykolas Romeris University. He was an active member of Kaunas Liberal Youth, worked at the Institute of Liberal Thought, Kaunas City Municipality, as assistant deputy mayor.
The young politician actively participated in the activities of the LS: he became the vice-president of the department, and then the president, after defeating a famous competitor in the tense struggle: the then MEP A.Guoga.
At 23, he ran for the first time to the Kaunas City Municipal Council. There was little shortage of success: half the term had to be first behind the line. 2011 In the elections, the young politician not only obtained a mandate, but also became the elder of the LS faction, the chairman of the Control Committee. 2015 was accompanied by even greater success: at the time, only 31 politicians were deputy mayor.
However, in last year’s elections, the list of liberals led by S. Kairis received no mandate. S.Kairys also decided to resign from the post of head of the LS Kaunas branch.
S. Kairis also had bad luck in the mayor’s election: he was third, with 2.4 percent. votes. But Visvaldas Matijošaitis, re-elected mayor, invited the former competitor to work as his adviser.
S. Kairys has yet to experience the joy of victory in the Seimas elections, but is steadily increasing on the list of liberals: in 2012. He was 32nd, in 2016, twelfth, and here he is, in the top ten.
Not everyone is lucky
Half of the first ten members of LS are the current members of Seimas: in addition to V.Čmilytė-Nielsen, V.Alekna and the former “peasant” V.Pranckietis, the former president of the party Eugenijus Gentvilas (sixth on the list) and her son Simonas (eighth). The other six current members of the LS faction are in the second or even the third decade: Kęstutis Glaveckas – 12, Ričardas Juška – 15, Jonas Liesys – 16, Gintaras Vaičekauskas – 19, Jonas Varkalys – 24, Juozas Baublys – 27.
If elected, the ninth number in the Seimas would not be a newcomer to the Seimas: he had already been a member of the Seimas for four terms, and now Arminas Lydeka, the chief human rights consultant, protocol and etiquette expert in the Office of the Ombudsman from the town of Seimas.
Experienced: Although Lopata makes his debut as a politician, he has been a political theorist and political scientist all his life.
Balance is almost maintained.
Therefore, it can be said that the proportions of experienced and newcomer politicians in the first ten of the LS are quite balanced: half are current members of the Seimas, one has worked in previous terms, three are long-term municipal politicians and one he is only a political theorist – political scientist.
Compared to 2016 in the current ten LS elections, in the current four surnames: E. Gentvilas, V. Alekna, V. Čmilytė-Nielsen and S. Gentvilas. So the renewal is significant.
The top ten are relatively young, with an average age of 47.3. On election day the youngest S. Gentvilas will be 36 years old, S. Kairys, a few months older, V. Čmilytė-Nielsen, one year older, and the oldest, V. Pranckietis, 62.
Gender equality is still a long way off: as in 2016, only two out of ten women. But a big step forward, this time they took first and fifth place, and four, fourth and tenth years ago.
2016 In the elections, the Liberals were predicted to triumph after party leader Eligijus Masiulis and the so-called political corruption scandal at MG Baltic. However, voters did not suffer much: in the multi-member constituency, the LS managed to win eight seats and six more in the single-member constituency.
After a difficult period with a new leader, the renewing party, according to data from this June poll by Vilmorus / Lietuvos rytas, can expect 7.5 percent. the number of votes cast, that would mean, in purely arithmetic terms, a total of thirteen to fourteen seats (in multi-member and single-member constituencies). That would be the fifth result after the conservatives, the “peasants”, the social democrats and the “workers”. Incidentally, the leader of the list is V.Čmilytė-Nielsen, the party’s president, among the party presidents, in the highest position.
The LS has a fairly constant core of its components. But in this election, LS will have to compete with its former comrades, the Freedom Party led by Aušrinė Armonaitė. Another question is whether the liberal voter will praise or punish LS and for a complete foreign body in the top ten, which we started today with the Liberal Movement.
The liberal movement ten
1. Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen
2. Andrius Bagdonas
3. Victor Francis
4. Virgilijus Alekna
5. Edit Rudelienė
6. Eugenijus Gentvilas
7. Raimundas Lopata
8 Simon Gentville
9. Lucio Arminas
10. Simonas Kairys
Current Seimas members: 5
Current members of the municipal councils: 2
It was in 2016. in the top ten of the electoral roll: 4
Age: 36 to 62 years old, average 47.3
Gender equality: men 8, women 2
Policy debutants: 1
Party finalists: up to 1
Nonpartisan members: 2
Controversial cases: 1
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