The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania has defended its decision to form a coalition government with the Dawn of Nemunas party, whose leader is standing trial on charges of alleged anti-Semitic statements.
The decision by the Social Democratic Party, which recently won elections, to invite the Dawn of Nemunas party to join its ruling coalition came as a surprise since its founder and leader Remigijus Zemaitaitis resigned from parliament in April ahead of the impeachment vote. That came after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated his oath of office by inciting hatred of Jews in social media posts last year.
He appeared before a criminal court in September and was subsequently charged with “attempting to create hostility, and provoking intolerance, towards Jews” and with playing down the Holocaust in Lithuania. However, Zemaitaitis denies an anti-Semitic motive in his posts and denies his guilt.
Gintautas Palutskas, deputy leader of the Social Democrats and prime minister-designate, said Zemaitaitis himself would not be in the cabinet, but his party would head three of the government’s 14 ministries, including the Justice Ministry. However, she justified the alliance with the party on the grounds that it was the only way to create a “sustainable” coalition, and went on to add that his party was ready to explain its decision to the country’s international partners.
Some claim the whole Nemunas Dawn party is antisemitic – we don’t see it like that. There is no place for antisemitism, neither in the Social Democrat party nor its government, Paluckas said.
The Social Democrat-led alliance, which also includes the For Lithuania party, is expected to win 84 seats out of 141 in parliament, more than the 71 seats needed for a majority. However, during the election campaign, both the Social Democrats and the second-placed centre-right Homeland Union said they would refrain from forming a governing coalition with the third-placed Dawn of Nemunas party.
Outrage at home and abroad
President Gitanas Nauseda warned of potential damage to the country’s international standing if a populist party enters the government, but the president has no power over how coalitions are assembled. The country’s Jewish community also voiced its displeasure with the Social Democratic Party’s decision.
The involvement of an antisemite in the ruling coalition and government activities also discredits Lithuania in the eyes of its foreign partners, whose support is vitally important to our nation and citizens, the community said in a statement.
“This individual’s statements deny and distort the Holocaust and attempt to rewrite Lithuania’s history, inciting Lithuanians against their Jewish compatriots. These actions are not one-off ‘citations of folklore,’ as some political figures try to justify. Instead, this is a systematic approach that has triggered a wave of antisemitism in the country, leaving the small Lithuanian Jewish community feeling humiliated and unsafe,” it added.
The actions of the Social Democrats caused international concern. Michael Roth, a German Social Democrat who heads the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, warned his Lithuanian colleagues that they risked losing touch with the Party of European Socialists.
Dear comrades in Lithuania, forming coalitions is never an easy thing! But Socialdemocrats are always + everywhere committed to freedom + human rights. An alliance with an anti-semitic party is incompatible with our values.
The problem of building a coalition with a party whose former head was convicted of anti-semitic remarks have a particular role and historical resonance in Lithuania, where local collaborators helped the Nazis exterminate some 90 per cent of the country’s Jewish population during the Holocaust.
