Remigijus Žemaitaitis (born 30 May 1982) is a Lithuanian politician and member of the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

Biography

Žemaitaitis was born on 30 May 1982 in

Šilutė Šilutė (, previously ''Šilokarčiama'', german: link=no, Heydekrug), is a city in the south of the Klaipėda County, Lithuania. The city was part of the Klaipėda Region and ethnographic Lithuania Minor. Šilutė was the interwar capital of Š ...

. In 2005, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...

. Until 2007 he worked as a lawyer and assistant at courts. Between 2007 and 2009 he worked as an assistant to the mayor of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

and, later, a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Juozas Imbrasas Juozas Imbrasas (born 8 January 1941 in Algirdai, Ukmergė district municipality) is the former mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania. He is a member of the political party Order and Justice. Controversy In 2007 Imbrasas came to international attention f ...

and former

President of Lithuania The President of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019. Powers The president has somewhat more executive authority tha ...

Rolandas Paksas Rolandas Paksas (; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who was the sixth President of Lithuania from 2003 to 2004. He was previously Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001, and he also served as Mayor of Vilniu ...

. A member of the

Order and Justice Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

party, Žemaitaitis was elected to the Tenth Seimas in 2009, in the by-election in the single-seat constituency of

- Šilalė. He was reelected to the Eleventh Seimas in 2012. He was elected the chairman of the Economics Committee at the parliament. In elections in 2016, Žemaitaitis headed the electoral list of

. After these elections, party's leader Rolandas Paksas resigned. Žemaitaitis became the interim leader of the party. In 2018, the party suffered splits and its support declined. After 2019 presidential election, the Order and Justice joined the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union-led government. According coalition's agreement, Žemaitaitis became the Deputy Speaker of Seimas. Two months later, the Order and Justice parliamentary group dissolved itself and Žemaitaitis became unaffiliated member of Seimas. In November, 2019, Žemaitaitis was removed from the Deputy Speaker's position after vote of no confidence. In 2020, the

Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals) Freedom and Justice ( lt, Laisvė ir Teisingumas, LT), known until 6 June 2020 as the Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals) ( lt, Lietuvos Laisvės Sąjunga (Liberalai)), is a conservative liberal political party in Lithuania. It holds soft euros ...

, the Order and Justice and the movement "Forward, Lithuania" merged into party the Freedom and Justice. Žemaitaitis was elected its leader.

Controversies

In May 2023, Žemaitaitis released public antisemitic comments on Facebook. The comments were received with harsh criticism and condemnation from Lithuanian politicians, Lithuanian Jewish community and numerous ambassadors to Lithuania. The office of the Prosecutor General has launched an ongoing investigation to Žemaitaitis' actions. On 19 May 2023

Freedom and Justice Freedom and Justice ( lt, Laisvė ir Teisingumas, LT), known until 6 June 2020 as the Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals) ( lt, Lietuvos Laisvės Sąjunga (Liberalai)), is a conservative liberal political party in Lithuania. It holds soft euros ...

terminated Žemaitaitis membership in party due controversial comments.„Laisvė ir teisingumas“ stabdo Žemaitaičio narystę partijoje
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References

1982 births Living people Members of the Seimas People from Šilutė District Municipality 21st-century Lithuanian politicians Order and Justice politicians Freedom and Justice politicians Vilnius University alumni {{Lithuania-politician-stub