Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission has stripped MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis of his mandate after the politician submitted his request to have his mandate cancelled last week.
His seat in the parliament will stay vacant until the end of this parliament’s term. The general elections are scheduled for October 13.
Thursday is Žemaitaitis’ last day as an MP.
He himself handed in his request to have his mandate cancelled last week after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated his oath and grossly violated the constitution when he made anti-Semitic statements on social media.
If he were impeached, the politician would be barred from running for elected office for ten years.
Last week, the Constitutional Court ruled that Žemaitaitis’ remarks about Jews “disregarded the imperative of fostering national concord, as enshrined in the preamble of the Constitution” and, as a MP, failed to adhere to his oath and fulfill his duty to uphold the constitution and laws.
The parliament initiated the impeachment procedure for Žemaitaitis in response to his Facebook posts about Jewish people in May and June 2023.
In his Facebook posts last June, Žemaitaitis suggested that “the Jews and Russians” oppressed ethnic Lithuanians during World War Two and were responsible for the 1944 massacre of the village of Pirčiupiai. In fact, the atrocity was committed by German SS troops.
In May, Žemaitaitis posted a news story about a Palestinian school demolished by Israel in the West Bank. He added that Israel’s actions “increase the anger and, at the same time, the hatred towards Jews and their nation” and quoted an anti-Semitic rhyme.
Žemaitaitis was elected to the parliament as a member of the Freedom and Justice party, but his membership was suspended last May over his Facebook posts. He registered a new party in January, the Dawn of the Nemunas, and is running for president in the May 12 election.
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