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Political party in Lithuania From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The People and Justice Union (Centrists, Nationalists) (Lithuanian: Tautos ir teisingumo sąjunga (centristai, tautininkai)) is a right-wing populist political party in Lithuania. It is currently not represented in the Seimas. The chairman of the party is Petras Gražulis.[10] Gražulis was impeached from the Lithuanian parliament in late 2023 and is not allowed, until 2033, to participate in any national elections.
People and Justice Union (Centrists, Nationalists) Tautos ir teisingumo sąjunga (centristai, tautininkai) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Abbreviation | TTS |
| Chairman | Petras Gražulis |
| Vice Chairpeople | Naglis Puteikis Sigitas Karbauskas Ramojus Girinskas |
| Chairman of the Political Council | Kristupas Krivickas |
| Chairwoman of the Board | Rūta Zabielienė |
| Executive Secretary | Aurelija Aleškevičienė |
| Founded | June 1, 2003 |
| Split from | Lithuanian Centre Union[1] |
| Headquarters | Kaštonų g. 3, Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Membership | 3,977 (2 October 2019) [2] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing to far-right[8][9][6] |
| European affiliation | Europe of Sovereign Nations Party |
| European Parliament group | Europe of Sovereign Nations |
| Colours | Blue and gold. Yellow, green, red (until 2021) |
| Seimas | 0 / 141 |
| European Parliament | 1 / 11 |
| Municipal councils | 7 / 1,498 |
| Mayors | 0 / 60 |
| Website | |
| tautateisingumas | |
The party was established as the National Centre Party (Lithuanian: Nacionalinė centro partija), before being renamed the Lithuanian Centre Party (Lietuvos Centro partija) in 2005.
In the parliamentary election of 2016, the Lithuanian Centre Party participated in a coalition (Anti-corruption coalition of Kristupas Krivickas and Naglis Puteikis) with the Lithuanian Pensioners' Party, and received 6.1% of the popular vote and one seat.[11] In the 2019 Lithuanian municipal elections, the Centre Party received 1.25% of votes nationwide and won municipal council seats in Klaipeda, Varena and Alytus (increasing the number of seats from 3 to 8).[12] During the 2019 election to the European Parliament the party received 5.13% of the national vote, but did not receive any representatives in the European Parliament.
On 26 October 2019, the Congress of the Lithuanian Centre Party decided to change the official name of the party to the Centre Party "Welfare Lithuania". The party fully supports the welfare state idea of the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda. In 2020, the party's name was changed again, this time to the Centre Party – Nationalists. In 2021 it merged with the Lithuanian Nationalist and Republican Union to become the People and Justice Union.
The party nominated Petras Gražulis in the 2024 Lithuanian presidential election, but his candidacy was rejected due to a prior impeachment.[13][14]
The party operates an unofficial "Headquarter for the Reelection of Donald Trump in Lithuania", created in cooperation with members of the Lithuanian-American community. The party's chairman Gražulis is also the chairman of the headquarters.[15]
According to the party's platform, the People and Justice Union
does not identify itself with any past or present ideology in Lithuania and operates as a national people's party. Guided by common sense and the good will of the Lithuanian people, in cooperation with interested national, confessional and social groups, it seeks, together with other political forces, the most favourable solutions for the development of the Lithuanian state and for Lithuania's consolidation in the world. The Party's main concern is to guarantee the positive participation of all national and international capital in the Lithuanian economy, the active and competitive functioning of medium and small capital, and the activities of the middle strata of society, entrepreneurs, security holders, farmers, science, culture and people of all intelligences.[16]
It defines itself as centre.[16] It has also been described as right-wing.[17][18] It is populist and claims that the state is under the control of an oligarchic clan, opposes LGBT rights, supports small and medium business and the creation of a national commercial bank.[19] It is soft Eurosceptic, demands the supremacy of national law over European law and describes the current system in the European Union as "a dictatorship of political correctness".[20]
| Election | Leader | Votes[lower-alpha 1] | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Petras Gražulis | 17,218 | 1.41 (#14) | 0 / 141 |
New | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Antanas Guoga | 64,595 | 5.13 (#8) | 0 / 11 |
New | – |
| 2024 | Petras Gražulis | 36,958 | 5.45 (#7) | 1 / 11 |
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ESN |
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