Dawn of Nemunas
Dawn of Nemunas Nemuno aušra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | NA |
| Chairperson | Remigijus Žemaitaitis[1] |
| Founder | Remigijus Žemaitaitis |
| Founded | 11 November 2023 |
| Registered | 16 January 2024 |
| Split from | Freedom and Justice |
| Membership (2024) | 2,296 |
| Ideology | Populism[2] Regionalism[3] Classical liberalism[4] |
| Political position | Centre-left[5][6][7] |
| Colours | Orange Brown |
| Seimas | 3 / 141 |
| Website | |
| nemunoausra | |
The Dawn of Nemunas (Lithuanian: Nemuno aušra) is a Lithuanian political party founded by Remigijus Žemaitaitis after his expulsion from the Freedom and Justice party due to his antisemitic statements. The party was founded in November 2023 and registered in January 2024. The party was joined by two MPs who defected from the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and Labour Party in June 2024, increasing its representation in the Seimas to three seats.[8]
The party is considered centre-left,[5] and mainly attract left-wing voters. It is also considered a very populist and personalist party, and the antisemitic remarks of the party's leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, render the party controversial.[6] The Dawn of Nemunas proposes a creation of a state-bank and a road fund, as well as nationalization of shares of state-owned companies, preventing private share ownership of state enterprises. The party also advocates tax breaks for large families, pensions reform, and pledges to not increase consumption tax. It seeks a coalition with Social Democrats and ruled out coalition with conservative parties.[9]
History
[edit]Background
[edit]In May 2023, Remigijus Žemaitaitis published antisemitic comments on Facebook, in which he claimed that “the Jews and Russians” oppressed ethnic Lithuanians during the Second World War and were responsible for the 1944 massacre of the village of Pirčiupiai.[10] The comments were received with harsh criticism and condemnation from Lithuanian politicians, the Lithuanian Jewish community and numerous ambassadors to Lithuania. The office of the Prosecutor General launched an ongoing investigation to Žemaitaitis' actions.[11] On 19 May 2023 Freedom and Justice terminated Žemaitaitis's membership in the party, and Artūras Paulauskas became the party's interim chairman.[12]
Foundation
[edit]On 11 November 2023, Remigijus Žemaitaitis announced the creation of a political party under the name Dawn of Nemunas.[13][14][15] He also said that his party plans to take part in all elections held in 2024 and nominate its own presidential candidate. Earlier, Žemaitaitis said that he had gathered more than 3,000 people to create the party.[16] He also claimed that most of the Freedom and Justice faction will join the new political force.[14]
The party was registered on 16 January 2024. The party had 2,296 inaugural members during the registration.[17] Shortly before the registration, Lithuanian Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė asked the parliament to strip Žemaitaitis of his legal immunity, stating that the pre-trial investigation suggests that Žemaitaitis “publicly ridiculed, expressed contempt for, and incited hatred against a group of people of Jewish nationality”.[18]
Agnė Širinskienė, former member of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, and Aidas Gedvilas and Artūras Skardžius, formerly from the Labour Party, joined Dawn of Nemunas on 19 June 2024. With Žemaitaitis' previous resignation from parliament, this increased the party's representation to 3 Members of the Seimas.[8]
In July 2024, the party's popularity peaked as polls showed that about 36.5% of voters would consider voting for the party. The party attracted largely centre-left voters, as well as a minority of the Liberals' Movement supporters.[19] In August, Žemaitaitis stated that he seeks to join a centre-left coalition led by the Social Democrats, and ruled out a coalition with "non-systemic" political partes.[7] He also ruled out a coalition with a conservative party.[9] In August, the party's polling stabilized to over 10% of the popular vote, overtaking the ruling conservative Homeland Union.[20]
Platform
[edit]Dawn of Nemunas describes itself as a centre-left,[21] classical liberal and Christian party.[4] It has been described as populist.[22] It supports the establishment of a state-owned bank and a road fund, granting tax breaks to large families, taking state control of the shares of state-owned energy holding company Ignitis, halting reforms in education for 4 years and auditing the reorganization of the network of schools and health care institutions. It pledges to not raise value added taxes to finance national defense.[2]
In its political program, the Dawn of Nemunas proposes an expansion of the Lithuanian social benefits. It advocates tax benefits to large families, facilitation of withdrawals from the second pension pillars (in favor of completely state-funded pensions), and pledges to never raise consumption taxes to finance the defence forces. The party also seeks a freeze of any tax changes for two years, and a creation of a state bank "Vytis" as well as a state road fund. Along with taking state control of Ignitis' shares, the party also proposes to "delist" stock shares of state companies, making it possible for only the state to buy shares in them. The party rules out a coalition with conservative parties, and instead envisions a centre-left coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.[9]
The party is considered centre-left,[5] and seeks to form a coalition with other centre-left forces while ruling out participating in a conservative coalition.[9] Most of its supporters were also found to be left-wing and to come from left-leaning parties such as the Social Democrats, the Labour Party, Lithuanian Regions Party, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union as well as the Union of Democrats "For Lithuania". Political scientist Virgis Valentinavičius considers the party "super-populist" and commenting on the antisemitism of the leader, stated: "Žemaitaitis models himself as the heir of the Lithuanian Jews. He uses a word like "parasites" when he talks about Jews and about Israel. This is a classic of antisemitism. It is quite clear that he does this deliberately."[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Leista registruoti Žemaitaičio vadovaujamą partiją "Nemuno aušra"". LRT (in Lithuanian). 10 January 2024.
- ^ a b Klimaševska, Ūla (28 July 2024). "Partiją "Nemuno aušra" į Seimą ves Žemaitaitis ir Širinskienė". LRT (in Lithuanian).
- ^ "Žemaitaitis pateikė dokumentus partijos "Nemuno aušra" steigimui". Delfi (in Lithuanian). 22 November 2023.
- ^ a b "LAISVAS ŽMOGUS – ATVIRA VISUOMENĖ – STIPRI VALSTYBĖ". nemunoausra.online (in Lithuanian). Dawn of Nemunas.
Nemuno aušra savo politinę veiklą grindžia liberalizmo principais, kylančiais iš klasikinės ir Naujųjų laikų politinės filosofijos tradicijos bei krikščioniškoje kultūroje susiformavusios asmens ir bendrojo gėrio sampratos. Individo laisvė mums yra pagrindinė vertybė. Tik laisvas žmogus gali būti visavertis visuomenės narys. Tačiau būtina šios laisvės sąlyga – asmens atsakomybė, atsakomybė bendruomenei, savo šaliai.
- ^ a b c "Remigijus Žemaitaitis pareiškė, kas pasikeistų jį išrinkus: „Šimonytė Vyriausybėje nebedirbtų"". TV3 naujienos (in Lithuanian). 5 August 2024.
Kitas dalykas – kai rudenį vyks Seimo rinkimai, man labai svarbu, kad „Nemuno aušra", kairioji politinė grupė, galėtų formuoti valdančiąją daugumą.
[Another thing is that when the Seimas elections take place in the autumn, it is very important for me that „Nemuno aušra“, a leftist political group, is able to form a ruling majority.] - ^ a b c Kirkilaitė, Goda (16 August 2024). "Kylant R. Žemaitaičio reitingams, naujokai veržiasi į priekį: ciniškas, bet labai efektyvus projektas" (in Lithuanian).
- ^ a b Vaišvila, Zigmas (12 August 2024). "Zigmas Vaišvila: Svarbiausia – pareigos. O Lietuvos žmonės?" (in Lithuanian).
- ^ a b Lyberytė, Augustė (19 June 2024). "A. Širinskienė nusprendė stoti į R. Žemaitaičio partiją: prie "Nemuno aušros" jungiasi dar du Seimo nariai". jp.lt (in Lithuanian).
- ^ a b c d Klimaševska, Ūla (28 July 2024). "Partiją „Nemuno aušra" į Seimą ves jos įkūrėjas Žemaitaitis: patvirtintas kandidatų sąrašas ir rinkimų programa" (in Lithuanian).
- ^ Andrukaitytė, Milena. "Lithuanian MP Žemaitaitis stripped of immunity over anti-Semitic posts".
- ^ Canaan, Lidor. "Lithuanian lawmaker in hot water after quoting song urging kids to kill Jews". Times of Israel.
- ^ „Laisvė ir teisingumas“ stabdo Žemaitaičio narystę partijoje
- ^ Geštautas, Alvydas (2023-11-17). "K. Bilius – kuriamos partijos Nemuno aušra vicepirmininkas". BIČIULIS (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ a b "Žemaitaitis skelbia įkūręs naują partiją "Nemuno aušra"". lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). 2023-11-11. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "R.Žemaitaitis patvirtintas naujai įkurtos partijos "Nemuno aušra" pirmininku". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "R. Žemaitaitis skelbia įkūręs partiją". Kauno diena (in Lithuanian). 2023-11-11. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ Rekvizitai.lt. "Nemuno Aušra". Rekvizitai.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "MP Žemaitaitis, accused of anti-Semitism, to run for Lithuanian president". lrt.lt. 22 January 2024.
- ^ "Kas rinktų R. Žemaitaitį Seimo rinkimuose?" (in Lithuanian). 5 August 2024.
- ^ Vaišvilaitė-Braziulienė, Justina (8 August 2024). "Ex-MP Žemaitaitis' party overtakes TS-LKD in opinion poll". delfi.lt.
- ^ "Partijos "Nemuno Aušra" Valdyba apibrėžė rinkimų programos kryptis ir diskutavo dėl Koalicijos". nemunoaušra.lt (in Lithuanian). Dawn of Nemunas. 4 July 2024.
"Tuo tarpu centro-kairiąsias jėgas matytume kaip galimus bendradarbius. Save pozicionuojame taip pat šioje politinio spektro pusėje." – teigia partijos „Nemuno aušra" rinkimų štabo vadovas R. Puchovič.
- ^ Kvaraciejus, Kęstutis. "Neaiškus politinis "kūdikis" pasiruošęs vesti pasitikti aušros nežinia kurioje Nemuno pusėje". lsdp.lt (in Lithuanian). Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.
