Thousands protest in Vilnius against government

15/11/2024 6:05

        More than 5,000 people
        protested next to the Lithuanian parliament on Thursday against
        election winners the Social Democrats entering into a
        parliamentary coalition with a party whose leader is on trial
        accused of antisemitic statements.
        
        The Social Democrats took control of 86 seats in the
        141-member parliament after forming a coalition with the Nemunas
        Dawn and For Lithuania parties. Members were sworn-in on
        Thursday.
        
        Nemunas Dawn party founder and head Remigijus Zemaitaitis
        resigned from parliament in April, ahead of an impeachment vote,
        after the Constitutional Court ruled he had broken his oath by
        stirring up hatred against Jews in social media posts last year.
        
        Crowds gathered in freezing rain outside the parliament on
        Thursday applauded as the speakers called on the Social
        Democrats to end the coalition with Nemunas Dawn.
        
        "I think it's important to everyone who is thinking about
        the future of Lithuania and its geopolitical situation,” writer
        Justinas Zilinskas, the organiser, told Reuters.
        
        Tauras, one of the protesters, said: "This is the day of
        national shame for Lithuania".
        
        Zemaitaitis, went on trial in September accused of
        "attempting to create hostility and provoking intolerance
        towards Jews", and with playing down the Holocaust in Lithuania.
        
        He has said his posts were not antisemitic and has denied
        wrongdoing.
        
        He was fourth in the presidential election in May, and his
        party is the third largest grouping in the parliament, with 20
        seats.
        
        Social Democrat deputy leader and its designated prime
        ministerial candidate Gintautas Paluckas said he believed the
        protesters are disputing the election result, not the coalition.
        
        "The people have spoken... Please allow us to form a
        government and demonstrate with our deeds that the
        dissatisfaction is probably baseless," Paluckas told reporters
        in the parliament after the protest.
        
        The coalition agreement allows Nemunas Dawn to nominate the
        heads of three of the government's 14 ministries, among them the
        justice ministry.
        
        Lithuania’s semi-executive president, Gitanas Nauseda, told
        parliamentarians, without mentioning Nemunas Dawn, that
        “incitements to hate” threatened security of the country.
        
        He has previously called the coalition a mistake, and
        pledged to not appoint anyone related to Nemunas Dawn to the
        cabinet.
        
        Nearly all of Lithuania's Jewish community of about 200,000
        people were shot by Nazi Germans during World War II and buried
        in mass graves. Former Lithuanian president Algirdas Brazauskas
        apologised in Israel’s parliament in 1995 for the fact that some
        Lithuanians contributed to the killings.
        
        The new government is expected to be sworn into office in
        December.