September to start with key by-election in Lithuania

Kicking off the second half of the European election year is the Raseinių-Kėdainių parliamentary by-election in constituency 42., where voters will go to the polls on 3 September to elect a new MP.

This might be the last by-election before the parliamentary elections next year as Lithuanian law stipulates not filling in parliamentary vacancies with by-elections when there is less than one year left until the next parliamentary election, which is to be held on or before 6 October 2024, making it an important test for the incumbent government.

The current governing coalition of centre-right TS-LKD (EPP), liberal LRLS (RE), and liberal LP has 74 out of 141 seats in the Seimas (parliament), which is a majority by just a narrow three seats.

In other words, this election could be an opportunity for them to pick up another seat to fortify their majority, as the seat was made vacant by opposition party LVŽS (Greens/EFA) MP Arvydas Nekrošius after winning the second round of the Raseniai mayoral election earlier this year.

There has so far been no polling on the by-election but the aforementioned MP-turned-mayor has recently been caught in a scandal regarding the appointment of a local hospital head without knowing about his former convictions of fraud, which could negatively impact his party’s chances at holding onto the seat.

The first round of the election will take place on 3 September, and if no candidate gets a majority, which currently looks not unlikely, then the top two candidates advance to a runoff election on 17 September.

In the last election, LVŽS won 22.0%, the centrist DP (NI) won 17.6%, the TS-LKD won 16.7%, the centre-left LSDP (S&D) won 15.0%, and LP won 6.2% All other parties scored less than 5%.

Lithuanians will not just elect a new parliament but also a new President and European Parliament members next year. The President represents Lithuania in the European Council.

(Gert Armand Valgerist | Europe Elects)