The New Union (Social Liberals) ( lt, Naujoji sąjunga (socialliberalai), NS) was a

social-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

political party in Lithuania Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. The NS was a member of the

European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

(ELDR) and an observer of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...

. It was founded in 1998 and is led by

Artūras Paulauskas Artūras Paulauskas (born 23 August 1953 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian politician. He was the Speaker of Seimas, the parliament of Lithuania, from 2000 to 2006, and he served as List of Presidents of Lithuania, Acting President of Lithuania from 6 ...

History

Establishment and participation in government (1998–2006)

The party was formed in 1998 on a basis of Artūras Paulauskas presidential campaign team. Its policy was based on

social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

: the principal values of which are personal freedom, social solidarity, welfare of people and justice. In 2000 municipal elections the party won the most seats in municipalities districts' councils. In 2000 it formed a coalition government with the Liberal Union (and

Lithuanian Centre Union The Lithuanian Centre Union, or Centre Union of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos centro sąjunga, LCS), was a liberal political party in Lithuania that existed between 1993 and 2003. History It was established by the centre-fraction in Sąjūdis in 1990 a ...

and Modern Christian Democrats), but after disagreements between two, in 2001 a new coalition with the

Lithuanian Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organization in 1896, it is the oldest extant part ...

(LSDP) was formed. Its candidate

Vilija Blinkevičiūtė Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (born 3 March 1960 in Linkuva, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian lawyer and politician, Member of the European Parliament and former long-term Minister for Social Security and Labour. Blinkevičiūtė is a member of the Social ...

won 16.6% of the votes in the 2004 presidential election. At that year's parliamentary election, the party ran in alliance with 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 For ...

(LSDP) under the label 'Coalition of

Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was the first President (fourth overall) of a newly re-independent post-Soviet Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He also served as head of the Communist Party of Li ...

and

: Working for Lithuania'. The list won 31 seats out of 141, of which the New Union won 11. After these election a coalition with the LSDP, the Labour Party and Lithuanian Popular Peasant Union (LVLS), which lasted up until summer of 2006.

In opposition, in government and dissolution (2006–2011)

In January 2008 the party joined new coalition, which consisted from the LSDP, the LVLS, Civic Democratic Party and

Liberal and Centre Union The Liberal and Centre Union ( lt, Liberalų ir centro sąjunga, LiCS) was a conservative-liberal political party in Lithuania active between 2003 and 2014. It was a member of the Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats f ...

. At the 2008 parliamentary election, the party lost heavily, winning only 1 seat in 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 ...

and only 3.64% of the national vote. As other parties that were part of coalition governments in the outgoing parliament suffered in the elections (

Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organization in 1896, it is the oldest extant party i ...

, Labour Party,

and

Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union ( lt, Lietuvos valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjunga, LVŽS)The party is also known as Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union. is a green-conservative and agrarian political party in Lithuania led by Ram ...

), all lost seats in the Seimas and in the new parliament a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

coalition under

Andrius Kubilius Andrius Kubilius (born 8 December 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Lithuania from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.LR Vyriausio ...

had the most seats. It left the New Union in opposition. The party's one member in the Seimas, Valerijus Simulik, sat with the Social Democratic Party political group. In 2011, the party merged with the Labour Party. A minority faction switched to the Liberal and Centre Union.

References

External links

(Social Liberals)
Official site, archived as for November, 2003 {{ELDR member parties Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in Lithuania Liberal parties in Lithuania Social liberal parties Political parties established in 1998 Political parties disestablished in 2011 1998 establishments in Lithuania

History

Establishment and participation in government (1998–2006)

In opposition, in government and dissolution (2006–2011)

See also

References

External links