The Way of Courage ( lt, Drąsos Kelias) is a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in Lithuania. It was founded in 2012 and has an anti- corruption platform.

History

The party was established by supporters of Drąsius Kedys, who claimed that justice officials had whitewashed a ring of pedophiles after his daughter had been sexually molested. Kedys died under unclear circumstances in 2010. Among the party's founders is Neringa Venckienė, sister of Drąsius Kedys and former judge. The party's name alludes to Kedys' first name ''Drąsius'' which means "the brave". The goals include changes in the justice system, e.g. the establishment of trial by jury. In 2012 parliamentary election the party gained approximately 8% of the popular vote. The party had its best performance in Kaunas and

Kaunas District Municipality Kaunas District Municipality (''Kauno rajono savivaldybė'') is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. The seat of the municipality is the city of Kaunas, which does not belong to the municipality but is a separate administrative unit. It surroun ...

. After the party's leader Neringa Venckiene applied for asylum in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, many party members decided not to participate in the future elections because of the "exile" of their leader. The party's chairman is Jonas Varkala, a former Catholic priest, who officially left the church in February 2012. He was a constant critic of the ethics of the leaders of the church, particularly in regards to sexual abuse of children. In 2014 with impeachment of Neringa Venckienė and Valdas Vasiliauskas moving to 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 ...

parliamentary group, the party's parliamentary group was dissolved as it had less than 7 members. In 2016 the party won just over 1 per cent of the votes and lost all representatives in parliament.

Member of Seimas (2012–2016)

* Neringa Venckiene (born 1971), (MP until 2014, Impeached), Judge * Jonas Varkala (born 1951), Priest * Aurelija Stancikienė (born 1966), Architect * Algirdas Vaclovas Patackas (born 1943), (MP until 2015, Died), Signer of the Lithuanian Declaration of Independence * Dr. Vytautas Antanas Matulevičius (born 1952), Journalist * Prof.

Povilas Gylys Povilas is a Lithuanian masculine given name and may refer to: * Povilas Aksomaitis (1938–2004), Lithuanian engineer, politician, and signatory of the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania *Povilas Budrys (born 1962), Lithua ...

(born 1948), Economist * Valdas Vasiliauskas (born 1951), Journalist * Prof. dr. Gintaras Aleknonis (born 1961), (refused to be sworn in), Journalist. * Prof. Stasys Brundza (born 1947), (MP from 2014), Economist * Audrius Nakas (born 1967), (MP from 2015), Actor

Political ideology

The party is considered populist. It contained a mix of political beliefs. Jonas Varkala and Algirdas Patackas were the conservative members of the party, whhile Vytautas Matulevičius was a liberal and one of the first Lithuanian politicians to support same-sex partnerships.https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/lietuva/parlamentaras-vytautas-matulevicius-butina-iteisinti-homoseksualu-partneryste-56-643797. Povilas Gylys was a former member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

and a former member of the

Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...

Election results

Seimas

Municipal

References

External links

Official website
2012 establishments in Lithuania Political parties established in 2012 Political parties in Lithuania Organizations based in Kaunas Garliava {{Lithuania-party-stub