Lithuanian Citizens' Alliance

The Lithuanian Citizens' Alliance (Lithuanian: Lietuvos piliečių aljansas, LPA) was a political party in Lithuania.

History

The party was established on 29 July 1996,^[1] and was originally known as the Alliance of the Lithuanian Minorities (Lietuvos tautinių mažumų aljansas).^[2] In the 1996 parliamentary elections it received 3% of the vote, and initially failed to win a seat. Shortly after the elections, the party was renamed the Lithuanian Citizens' Alliance. In by-elections that were held the following year in four constituencies where turnout had been below the threshold to validate the results of the 1996 elections, the party won a seat, with Mečislav Vaškovič elected from the Naujoji Vilnia constituency.

In the 1997 municipal elections the party's best performance came in Vilnius (where Juozas Raistenskis [lt] became deputy mayor) and Visaginas. Between 1999 and 2000 many party members (including Raistenskis) joined the Liberal Union of Lithuania. In the 2000 municipal elections the party won three seats in Visaginas.^[3]

In 2005 the party was renamed the Lithuanian Citizens Union (Lietuvos piliečių sąjunga), and was subsequently transformed into the Civic Democratic Party the following year.

References

1. Diana Janušauskienė (2011) Post-Communist Democratisation in Lithuania: "Elites, Parties, and Youth Political Organisations. 1988-2001", Rodopi, p29
2. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1209 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
3. Results of the 19 March 2000 Lithuanian Local Elections^[usurped] Central Europe Review