On October 27, the second round of elections to the Seimas of Lithuania took place. During the repeat voting, voter turnout was 41.31%, in the first round of elections 52.06% of voters voted, writes Delfi.
The winners were the opposition Social Democrats, who tripled their parliamentary representation (from 14 to 52 seats). The Christian Democrats led by Minister Landsbergis lost almost half of their mandates (from 50 to 28). In the elections four years ago, the party received 50 seats in the Seimas.
The far-right party "Neman Dawn" entered the parliament for the first time with 14% of the votes, receiving 20 seats.
The fourth place in terms of the number of mandates received was taken by the Union of Democrats "For the Sake of Lithuania" — 14. The Liberal Movement, which is part of the current ruling coalition, is expected to have 12 mandates in the next Seimas, according to preliminary data.
On October 13, the first round of elections to the Seimas took place. After counting the results in the multi-member district, the Social Democratic Party secured 18 seats in parliament, the Conservatives — 17, "Neman Dawn" — 14 mandates. The Union of Democrats "For the Sake of Lithuania" received 8 mandates, the Liberal Movement — 7, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union — 6.
The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Member of the European Parliament Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, thanked the citizens of Lithuania for their support. "The election results showed that the people of Lithuania want change, they need a completely different government," she said.
Blinkevičiūtė is expected to leave her position as a member of the European Parliament and head the government of Lithuania.
Pre-election polls indicated a change of government in Lithuania. The current change of power will be the first in the Baltic region since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė repeatedly stated that Lithuania's foreign policy will not change, and assistance to Ukraine will remain a priority for the authorities.