President Gitanas Nausėda says the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) has “clearly won” the general elections, adding that a centre-left coalition government “will be for the better”.
In Sunday’s elections, the LSDP won 19 percent of the party list vote, securing 18 seats in the parliament. Two more of its candidates secured first-round victories in single-member constituencies. Sixty-three seats are still up for grabs in the run-offs to be held in two weeks.
“The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party has clearly won this election. We can already say that after the first round, and I believe we’ll be able to say the same after the second round as well,” President Nausėda said in an interview with BNS in Paris.
“That centre-left government will definitely be able to continue our foreign policy, because we have a strong consensus on foreign policy in the state. When it comes to domestic policy, I believe there will certainly be some changes, but those changes will be for the better,” he added.
The social democrats have named the Democratic Union “For Lithuania”, which finished fourth, and the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS), which barely crossed the electoral threshold, as potential coalition partners.
The two parties won eight and six seats, respectively.
Nausėda said he expects more productive cooperation with the new cabinet than with the outgoing government led by the conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD).
“With this party, we’ve done quite a lot, despite some sparring,” the president said.
“In foreign policy, I didn’t feel much discomfort, because our positions were similar. But it seems their methods and, let’s not hide it, their sense of arrogance – the belief that they are the only ones who love Lithuania – tripped them up,” he said.
Nausėda also said that the Freedom Party’s likely absence from the next parliament does not mean the issue of same-sex civil partnership will be ignored.
“When this somewhat hysterical atmosphere calms down, it might actually create better conditions for resolving the issue [of same-sex partnerships]. Maybe not in the way the Freedom Party or their voters envision, but at least to regulate the legal relations between same-sex partners so they can enjoy the same rights as other citizens and there’s no need to raise these issues in the public space anymore,” the president said.
“I don’t think this is an unsolvable riddle,” he added.
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