On Thursday, a second protest against the inclusion of Nemunas Dawn and Remigijus Žemaitaitis, an MP accused of anti-Semitism, into the country’s ruling coalition is being organised in front of the Seimas in Vilnius.
“Since we were not heard the first time, we are gathering again,” reads the event description.
The organisers of the “Ten Minutes of Silence” protest have appealed to the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSPD) and the Union of Democrats “For Lithuania”, who have formed a coalition with Nemunas Dawn, as well as to President Gitanas Nausėda.
“Your authority among voters could be part of the change,” they said.
The organisers of the protest stress that they are not contesting the results of the elections and are “not calling for an uprising”.
“Our gathering is dignified and peaceful, and we call on people not to use degrading rhetoric and to remain cultured. This event is not organised by any party or movement,” the organisers stressed.
The first protest in front of the Seimas was held during the first sitting of the newly elected parliament last Thursday and was attended by several thousand people.
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Gintautas Paluckas, the LSDP candidate for prime minister, promised to come and talk to the protesters but did not show up and said that the gathering was being organised as a protest against the election results.
The LSDP, the Democrats “For Lithuania”, and Nemunas Dawn confirmed their decision to work in the ruling coalition at the beginning of last week.
This move was condemned not only by opposition and civic society in Lithuania but also by politicians in the United States, Germany, and Poland.
To minimise reputational damage, the ruling parties have included in the coalition agreement a commitment to fight “anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and incitement to hatred in any form”.
The courts are currently examining a criminal case in which Žemaitaitis is accused of inciting hatred against Jewish people.
Previously, the country’s Constitutional Court found Žemaitaitis guilty of breaking his oath of office and of a serious violation of the Constitution for his public statements about Jews and Israel.
Žemaitaitis rejects anti-Semitism accusations, saying he had only criticised Israel.
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