Lietuvos liberalų sąjunga

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The Lietuvos liberalų sąjunga ( LLS , German: Liberal Union of Lithuania ) was a liberal Lithuanian party that existed from November 1990 to May 2003, when it merged with the Central Union and the Modern Christian Democrats to form the Liberal and Central Union . It defined itself as an economically liberal party that emphasizes the independent action of the individual. In terms of political values, it was to be classified as conservative.

history

Founded out of liberal debating circles at the universities in Kaunas and Vilnius , the party was an active part of the Sąjūdis movement to regain Lithuania's independence. In the Constituent Assembly in May 1991, 10 deputies came together to form the Liberal Group, which was close to the LLS. In the first free parliamentary elections , however, the LLS clearly failed to make it into the Lithuanian parliament with only 2% of the votes . Even after the 1996 elections, the LLS only had one MP.

The LLS became very important when, in December 1999, it became the new political home of the then most popular Lithuanian politician Rolandas Paksas , who with 50 supporters switched from the Conservatives to the Liberals. With him as the top candidate, the party won 17% of the vote and 34 seats in the 2000 elections, 18 of the 71 direct seats. The party now provided the prime minister and Paksas was also elected chairman of the party in May 2001, while the long-time chairman Eugenijus Gentvilas moved to the second rank as deputy.

In June 2001, however, the coalition with the social liberals broke up and the LLS lost its participation in the government. In the course of this loss of importance, internal party criticism of Paksas increased and in October 2001 Gentvilas was re-elected chairman, while Paksas became first deputy. Unsurprisingly, Paksas left the parliamentary group together with 10 other MPs in December and left the party in January 2002. Some members were expelled for behavior that was harmful to the party. Paksas then founded the Liberal Democratic Party in March 2002 .

To avoid a renewed loss of importance, the party merged in May 2003 with the Center Union to form the Liberal and Center Union .

management

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