Social Democrats win Lithuania's election, overcoming center-right government

VILNIUS, Lithuania -- VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania' s center-left opposition parties celebrated victory on Monday after prevailing over the center-right ruling coalition in the final round of national elections.

With 100% of votes counted from Sunday's polls, the Social Democrats won 52 seats in the 141-seat parliament, known as the Seimas, ending the four-year rule of the Homeland Union government led by conservative Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.

The Social Democrats will start talks on forming a majority cabinet with two smaller center-left parties, the Democratic Union and the Union of Peasants and Greens, which won respectively 14 and 8 seats. The coalition is expected to control at least 74 seats.

Šimonytė's Homeland Union won only 28 seats in the two-round election.

Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, who heads the Social Democrats, thanked supporters as a cheering crowd celebrated victory in downtown Vilnius on Sunday.

“I am very grateful to the people of Lithuania who were so active today voting for us” she said adding that “the results have shown that the people want change, a completely different government.”

The outcome was a surprise to the ruling conservatives, who were only two seats behind the Social Democrats after the first round.

Analysts had predicted that Lithuania is set to continue a historic pattern where voters tend to look a different way every four years.

Šimonytė conceded, noting the pattern. “In Lithuania that's the way it is, every election we see the pendulum swinging in one direction or the other,” she told reporters. “We respect the will of the voters.”

The vote in Lithuania, which borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west and Belarus to the east, came at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine is fueling greater fears about Moscow’s intentions, particularly in the strategically important Baltic region.

Analysts say there won’t be any significant change in Lithuania’s foreign policy. The European Union and NATO member is a staunch supporter of Ukraine.

The outgoing government faced criticism for the strict measures it adopted during the pandemic, with many complaining that her government didn’t do enough to help companies during lockdown. Others say thousands of people didn’t have proper access to health care.

Šimonytė also has been lambasted for her handling of migrants arriving via Belarus. Lithuania has claimed its eastern neighbor, as well as Russia, was orchestrating the influx of people, mostly from Africa and the Middle East.

Although the country has seen annual double-digit personal income growth and has one of the lowest inflation rates in the 27-nation bloc, most voters did not seem to be impressed.

The results also mean that the new cabinet can be formed without the populist Nemuno Aušra party which came in third, with 20 seats. Its leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis had to resign from parliament earlier this year for making antisemitic statements.

Following the results, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania's foreign minister, announced his resignation from the leadership of Homeland Union and said he was leaving politics.

Turnout on Sunday was 41.31 percent, among the highest for a runoff.