Lithuania’s conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, head of the ruling coalition, recorded sharp losses in the 2023 municipal elections.
"We had really expected a better result in the regions, and it's really hard to say very quickly what the reason was,” says Andrius Vyšniauskas, head of the party's election headquarters. “We will need an in-depth analysis, we will do sociological surveys.”
Compared to their result in the previous polls, the conservatives received half of the votes in Lithuania’s regions.
Read more: Benkunskas elected mayor of Vilnius
However, the party’s positions in the country’s major cities have strengthened. Vyšniauskas highlighted the victory in Vilnius, where the party's candidate Valdas Benkunskas was elected Vilnius mayor.
On Sunday, head of the party and foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said winning the mayor race in the capital was "a signal from voters as to what direction the party should take".
The party's vice chair Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė says the situation in each municipality is different, but the results are "not encouraging".
However, she sees no need for the party leader to take responsibility for the electoral situation.
The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party came on top in the municipal elections, winning 17 mayoral seats. Various political committees, not representing parties, came second, followed by the Liberal Movement in third place.
Read more: Social Democrats win most mayoral seats in Lithuania’s local elections
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