Lithuanian Parliament elections: the first round is over, the second round to go

The first round of Lithuanian Parliament elections has ended.  All of the votes had been counted.  One thing is clear that nothing is clear yet since only a half (plus three) of the Parliament mandates had been distributed.

So far the opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD) achieved the best result with 24.8 per cent of the national vote in the multi-member constituency, giving them 23 seats in the parliament.

The ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union came in second with 17.5 per cent of the vote and 16 seats, followed by the Labour Party with 9.47 per cent and nine seats, and the Social Democratic Party with 9.26 per cent and eight seats. 

The Freedom Party, a liberal party founded last year, won 9.02 per cent of the vote and eight seats in the Seimas, outperforming the Liberal Movement with 6.79 per cent and six seats.   

The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance (EAPL-CFA), a member of the outgoing ruling coalition, failed to cross the five per cent threshold to enter the Seimas. The party mustered 4.82 per cent of the national vote, falling short of the necessary five per cent to enter the parliament.

17 political parties fielded their candidate lists in the multi-member constituency in which 70 out of 141 seats in the Seimas were distributed.

The remaining 71 MPs are elected in single-member constituencies. Only three candidates won an outright majority of votes in the first round on Sunday, meaning that the remaining 68 seats will be decided in the run-off round on October 25. 

The biggest surprise of the elections so far is that the Freedom party made it to the Parliament and a poor performance by the Social Democrat party. Another surprise is that The Electoral Action of Poles failed to pass the 5 per cent threshold and most likely will not have their political group.  Even though the Centre-right coalition with the Conservatives, the Liberal Movement and the Freedom Party is possible but we have to wait for October 25.