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Freedom and Justice (Lithuanian: Laisvė ir Teisingumas, PLT), known until 6 June 2020 as the Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals) (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Laisvės Sąjunga (Liberalai)), is a conservative-liberal political party in Lithuania. It holds soft eurosceptic views.[7]
Freedom and Justice Laisvė ir teisingumas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | PLT |
| Leader | Artūras Zuokas |
| Founder | Artūras Zuokas |
| Founded | 12 July 2014 (as the Lithuanian Freedom Union) 6 June 2020 (as Freedom and Justice) |
| Merger of | LiCS, YES (2014) Order and Justice, Movement Forward, Lithuania (2020) |
| Headquarters | Vilnius |
| Membership | 4,569 (2022) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right[6] to right-wing[3] |
| Colours | Selective yellow and Persian blue |
| Seimas | 1 / 141 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 11 |
| Municipal councils | 55 / 1,498 |
| Mayors | 2 / 60 |
| Website | |
| laisve-teisingumas | |
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The party was originally founded on 12 July 2014, when the Liberal and Centre Union (LiCS) merged with YES.[8][9][10] YES leader Artūras Zuokas became a leader of newly formed party.
In 2015 Lithuanian municipal election the party won 4.91 per cent of votes. Its best performance was in northeast of Lithuania. In 2016 Lithuanian parliamentary election the party won 2.16 per cent of votes in multi-member constituency.
After poor results of 2019 European Parliament elections, Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals), Order and Justice and public election committee "Strong Lithuania in United Europe" started negotiations.[11]
In June 2020, Order and Justice and former MP Arturas Paulauskas' movement "Forward, Lithuania" merged into the party (combining with Artūras Zuokas–led party) and the new movement was renamed to Freedom and Justice. The party was affiliated with ALDE until its merger in 2020.
MPs from Order and Justice, Remigijus Žemaitaitis and Kęstutis Bartkevičius became Freedom and Justice' representatives in the Seimas. In 2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election only Remigijus Žemaitaitis retained his seat. In 2021, Žemaitaitis joined the Lithuanian Regions Parliamentary Group.[12]
On 19 May 2023 Freedom and Justice terminated Remigijus Žemaitaitis membership in the party due to controversial antisemitic comments.
The party managed to regain representation in Seimas after 2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election, when party's leader Artūras Zuokas took single member constituency in Vilnius.[13]
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The party has a conservative-liberal,[1] centre-right profile and is supportive of both the European Union and NATO. The party is in favour of allowing civil unions for same-sex couples. After it merger with Order and Justice in 2020, the party adopts soft eurosceptic stance on European integration.[7]
The party is economically liberal. It supports the privatization of parts of the health care sector and opposes the establishment of a national development bank. The party favours giving tax incentives to companies that hire seniors and opposes progressive taxation. Instead, it wants to lower value-added taxes.[14]
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Seimas
| Election | Leader | Votes[a] | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Artūras Zuokas | 27,274 | 2.23 (#9) | 0 / 141 |
New | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2020 | Remigijus Žemaitaitis | 23,355 | 2.06 (#11) | 1 / 141 |
 1 |
Opposition |
| 2024 | Artūras Zuokas | 9,367 | 0.77 (#14) | 1 / 141 |
 |
Opposition |
European Parliament
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Artūras Zuokas | 24,143 | 1.92 (#14) | 0 / 11 |
New | – |
| 2024 | Artūras Paulauskas | 8,458 | 1.25 (#15) | 0 / 11 |
0 |
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