Gediminas Kirkilas
Gediminas Kirkilas (born August 30, 1951 in Vilnius ) is a Lithuanian social democratic politician , deputy chairman of the Seimas , former member of the social democrats and former Prime Minister of Lithuania . He is currently chairman of the Social Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania - LSDDP, which was founded in 2018 .
education
After graduating from high school in Vilnius (1969) and serving in the army (1969–1972), he worked from 1972 to 1978 as a restorer . He then studied political science until 1982 at the University of the Communist Party in Vilnius . In 2004 Gediminas Kirkilas completed an MBA Master's degree from Vilnius University International Business School .
In addition to Lithuanian , Kirkilas speaks English and Russian .
family
Kirkilas comes from an academic family, he has six siblings. He and his wife Liudmila have two grown children.
Political career
Gediminas Kirkilas worked for various committees of the Communist Party of the LSSR . From 1989 he worked at the side of the First Secretary of the Central Committee , Algirdas Brazauskas , one of the "fathers" of independence and later President and Prime Minister of the country. He remained loyal to Brazauskas as a personal advisor even after Lithuania's independence.
In the Communist Party of Lithuania, renamed the Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania (LDDP), he was first deputy party chairman (1991–1996), then he was a member of the presidium (1996–2001). After the merger of the LDDP with the LSDP , he was elected one of the deputy chairmen of the LSDP.
Kirkilas has sat for the Social Democrats in the Seimas , the Lithuanian parliament , since 1992, and has been deputy chairman of the Seimas since November 2012. He specialized in European, security and foreign policy. As chairman of the National Security Committee (1992–96), he played a key role in shaping the national security strategy. After the parliamentary elections in 2000 , he became chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Following the 2004 elections , he was appointed Minister of Defense on December 14, 2004 .
Prime Minister of Lithuania
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Kirkilas was nominated on June 29, 2006 to succeed Prime Minister Brazauskas, who resigned on May 31, 2006, after the acting Prime Minister, his party colleague Zigmantas Balčytis , had not received a majority in the Seimas. In the meantime, following the defeat in the vote, the Social Democrats had been able to secure a majority for the minority government they led, consisting of the LSDP, the peasant party , liberals and the newly formed civil democracy .
In July 2006 he was elected as the new Prime Minister of the country by 85 votes to 13 with five abstentions. The MPs of the Labor Party and the New Union also voted for Kirkilas. The majority of the MPs of the conservative Fatherland League stayed away from the vote, but tolerated the government until the next scheduled elections in October 2008. Kirkilas was chairman of the 14th government since the Baltic state gained independence in 1991 . During the time of his government, the economy, which had been booming up to that point, began to weaken at the beginning of 2008. After Brazauskas resigned from the position of party chairman, Kirkilas (on the recommendation of Brazauskas) was also given a clear majority on May 19, 2007 at the 28th party congress in a fighting vote elected party chairman. The only opposing candidate was Juozas Olekas .
Despite increased government spending (+ 16% increase for 2008 compared to 2007), the population could not be convinced of the government's work in the elections in October 2008 . On November 28, 2008 Andrius Kubilius (Fatherland League) was elected by Parliament to succeed Gediminas Kirkilas.
Activities after 2008
After the defeat of the LSDP in the parliamentary elections in 2008 , Kirkilas did not apply for party leadership in 2009. Algirdas Butkevičius was elected as his successor, Kirkilas remained a member of the Seimas.
After an internal party dispute in the LSDP about remaining in the current government in September 2017, Kirkilas left the LSDP faction with some party friends and founded the Social Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania - LSDDP in March 2018 . Gediminas Kirkilas was elected the first chairman of this party.
Web links
Individual evidence
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Zigmantas Balčytis |
Prime Minister of Lithuania 2006-2008 |
Andrius Kubilius |
| Linas Linkevičius |
Minister of Defense of Lithuania 2004–2006 |
Juozas Olekas |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kirkilas, Gediminas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Lithuanian politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 30, 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vilnius , Lithuanian SSR |