Conservative ruling party loss against opposition socialist party: Lithuania

Were it not for the mayoral position in Vilnius and 19 seats in the 50-member city council, one could speak of a political tragedy for the conservatives, said political scientist Mažvydas Jastramskis, on Sunday evening in an interview with the public broadcaster LRT.

Compared to the prior municipal elections in 2019, incomplete data suggests that the Conservatives lost roughly 100 council seats countrywide and only won a few mayoral positions.

The deputy leader of the conservative party, MP Radvile Morkunaite-Mikuleniene, said, "We were hoping for a better outcome, but people chose other candidates for many different reasons.

The Social Democrats won at least 16 mayoral positions in these elections, increasing the number of councilor seats they had previously held. Vilija Blinkevcziute, a Lithuanian MEP and the leader of the Social Democratic Party, declared that these elections were a true success for his party. According to Jastramskis, this was the Social Democrats' best electoral performance in ten years.

The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania - Christian Families Alliance (EAPL-CFA) retained a dominant position in the councils of the Vilnius and Šalčininkai regions and won the position of mayor in the Šalčininkai region, where Zdzisław Palewicz was elected as the governor of the region in the first round, two weeks ago.

However, EAPL-CFA failed to win the position of mayor in the Vilnius region. On Sunday, during the second round, Waldemar Urban from the EAPL-CFA lost a small number of votes to Robert Duchniewicz from the social democratic party. Duchniewicz obtained 50.20 percent. votes, and Urban – 49.07 percent.

Blinkevcziute, the leader of the Social Democrats, described Duchniewicz's victory in the Vilnius region as a "huge achievement". EAPL-ZChR lost the position of mayor in the Vilnius region after almost 30 years.

In the Vilnius region, EAPL-CFA was unable to secure the position of mayor. In the second round on Sunday, Robert Duchniewicz of the social democratic party narrowly defeated Waldemar Urban of the EAPL-CFA. Duchniewicz won 50.20 percent. votes, while Urban - 49.07 percent.

A "major achievement," according to Social Democratic Party chairman Blinkevcziute, was Duchniewicz's triumph in the Vilnius area. After nearly 30 years, EAPL-ZChR was ousted from the role of mayor in the Vilnius region.

On Sunday, in the second round of elections to local authorities, voting took place in 34 out of 60 local governments, where no mayor was elected two weeks ago, as none of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote. votes.

In the second round, Jarosław Narkiewicz from EAPL-CFA also fought in the Trakai region, but he lost to Andrius Szateviczius from the Union of Liberals. Szateviczius received 62.29 percent. votes, Narkiewicz - 35.92 percent.