Dawn of Nemunas

Political party in Lithuania

Politics of Lithuania
Political parties
Elections

The Dawn of Nemunas (Lithuanian: Nemuno aušra) is a Lithuanian political party founded by Remigijus Žemaitaitis after his expulsion from the Freedom and Justice party due to his anti-Semitic statements. The party was founded in November 2023 and registered in January 2024.

History

Background

In May 2023, Remigijus Žemaitaitis published antisemitic comments on Facebook, in which he claimed that “the Jews and Russians” oppressed ethnic Lithuanians during the Second World War and were responsible for the 1944 massacre of the village of Pirčiupiai.^[6] The comments were received with harsh criticism and condemnation from Lithuanian politicians, the Lithuanian Jewish community and numerous ambassadors to Lithuania. The office of the Prosecutor General launched an ongoing investigation to Žemaitaitis' actions.^[7] On 19 May 2023 Freedom and Justice terminated Žemaitaitis's membership in the party, and Artūras Paulauskas became the party's interim chairman.^[8]

Foundation

On 11 November 2023, Remigijus Žemaitaitis announced the creation of a political party under the name Dawn of Nemunas.^[9]^[10]^[11] He also said that his party plans to take part in all elections held in 2024 and nominate its own presidential candidate. Earlier, Žemaitaitis said that he had gathered more than 3,000 people to create the party.^[12] He also claimed that most of the Freedom and Justice faction will join the new political force.^[10]

The party was registered on 16 January 2024. The party had 2,296 inaugural members during the registration.^[13]

Agnė Širinskienė, former member of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, and Aidas Gedvilas and Artūras Skardžius, formerly from the Labour Party, joined Dawn of Nemunas on 19 June 2024. With Žemaitaitis' previous resignation from parliament, this increased the party's representation to 3 Members of the Seimas.^[14]

Platform

Dawn of Nemunas describes itself as a centre-left,^[5] classical liberal and Christian party.^[4] It has been described as populist.^[15] It supports the establishment of a state-owned bank and a road fund, granting tax breaks to large families, taking state control of the shares of state-owned energy holding company Ignitis, halting reforms in education for 4 years and auditing the reorganization of the network of schools and health care institutions. It pledges to not raise value added taxes to finance national defense.^[2]

References

^ "Leista registruoti Žemaitaičio vadovaujamą partiją "Nemuno aušra"". LRT (in Lithuanian). 10 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b Klimaševska, Ūla (28 July 2024). "Partiją "Nemuno aušra" į Seimą ves Žemaitaitis ir Širinskienė". LRT (in Lithuanian).
^ "Žemaitaitis pateikė dokumentus partijos "Nemuno aušra" steigimui". Delfi (in Lithuanian). 22 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b "LAISVAS ŽMOGUS – ATVIRA VISUOMENĖ – STIPRI VALSTYBĖ". nemunoausra.online (in Lithuanian). Dawn of Nemunas. Nemuno aušra savo politinę veiklą grindžia liberalizmo principais, kylančiais iš klasikinės ir Naujųjų laikų politinės filosofijos tradicijos bei krikščioniškoje kultūroje susiformavusios asmens ir bendrojo gėrio sampratos. Individo laisvė mums yra pagrindinė vertybė. Tik laisvas žmogus gali būti visavertis visuomenės narys. Tačiau būtina šios laisvės sąlyga – asmens atsakomybė, atsakomybė bendruomenei, savo šaliai.
^ ^a ^b "Partijos "Nemuno Aušra" Valdyba apibrėžė rinkimų programos kryptis ir diskutavo dėl Koalicijos". nemunoaušra.lt (in Lithuanian). Dawn of Nemunas. 4 July 2024. "Tuo tarpu centro-kairiąsias jėgas matytume kaip galimus bendradarbius. Save pozicionuojame taip pat šioje politinio spektro pusėje." – teigia partijos „Nemuno aušra" rinkimų štabo vadovas R. Puchovič.
^ Andrukaitytė, Milena. "Lithuanian MP Žemaitaitis stripped of immunity over anti-Semitic posts".
^ Canaan, Lidor. "Lithuanian lawmaker in hot water after quoting song urging kids to kill Jews". Times of Israel.
^ „Laisvė ir teisingumas“ stabdo Žemaitaičio narystę partijoje
^ Geštautas, Alvydas (2023-11-17). "K. Bilius – kuriamos partijos Nemuno aušra vicepirmininkas". BIČIULIS (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
^ ^a ^b "Žemaitaitis skelbia įkūręs naują partiją "Nemuno aušra"". lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). 2023-11-11. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
^ "R.Žemaitaitis patvirtintas naujai įkurtos partijos "Nemuno aušra" pirmininku". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
^ "R. Žemaitaitis skelbia įkūręs partiją". Kauno diena (in Lithuanian). 2023-11-11. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
^ Rekvizitai.lt. "Nemuno Aušra". Rekvizitai.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2024-02-04.
^ Lyberytė, Augustė (19 June 2024). "A. Širinskienė nusprendė stoti į R. Žemaitaičio partiją: prie "Nemuno aušros" jungiasi dar du Seimo nariai". jp.lt (in Lithuanian).
^ Kvaraciejus, Kęstutis. "Neaiškus politinis "kūdikis" pasiruošęs vesti pasitikti aušros nežinia kurioje Nemuno pusėje". lsdp.lt (in Lithuanian). Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.