Together with the Vytis

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Together with the Vytis
Kartu su Vyčiu
LeaderVaclovas Žutautas
FoundedJune 14, 2007 (2007-06-14)
HeadquartersKaunas[1]
Membership2,735 members (2023)[2]
IdeologyPensioner interests
Lithuanian nationalism
Euroscepticism
Seimas
0 / 141
European Parliament
0 / 11
Municipal councils and mayors
0 / 1,558

Together with the Vytis (Lithuanian: Partija "Kartu su Vyčiu") is a minor right-wing political party in Lithuania which was founded in 2007. It is led by engineer Vaclovas Žutautas. The party has not achieved significant success in Lithuanian elections.

History[edit]

Lithuanian Pensioners' Party[edit]

The party was founded as the Lithuanian Pensioners' Party (Lithuanian: Lietuvos pensininkų partija) on 14 June 2007. It described itself as a pensioners' party and its foundation was motivated by injustice towards retired persons in Lithuania.[3] The party's founder, Vytautas Jurgis Kadžys, was a retired army officer who formerly belonged to the far-right Lithuanian Nationalist Union and National Democratic Party of Lithuania.[4] However, Kadžys claimed that the party belongs to neither the political left nor the right and will cooperate with parties from the entire political spectrum.[3]

It protested Lithuania's accession to the Eurozone and demanded pensions to be indexed with inflation.[5]

It participated in the 2011 municipal elections and received 0.37% of the vote, but did not win any mandates.[6] It finished with a worse result in the municipal elections of 2015 and ceased participating in municipal elections.[7]

In 2016, it joined Naglis Puteikis, 2014 presidential election candidate and former Homeland Union member of the Seimas, and journalist Kristupas Krivickas in the "Anti-Corruption Coalition". A wide coalition of anti-establishment parties, it was also joined by the Lithuanian Centre Party, the Centre of Trade Unions, the Lithuanian Christian Democracy Party, and former National Resurrection Party member Ligitas Kernagis.[8] Though the coalition received 6.32% of the vote, it did not reach the 7% threshold required for multi-party coalitions and did not win proportional seats.[9]

Union of Intergenerational Solidarity[edit]

In January 2020, the party was joined by philosopher Arvydas Juozaitis, who was elected the new party chairman.[10] Juozaitis was a candidate in the 2019 presidential election and campaigned against globalisation and European integration, and had intended to found his own party, but failed to gather the required number of founding members.[10] The party was renamed to the Union of Intergenerational Solidarity - Cohesion for Lithuania (Lithuanian: Kartų solidarumo sąjunga - Santalka Lietuvai), and it was joined by former Order and Justice MP Juozas Imbrasas, giving it its first and only member in the Seimas.[11] The new chairman reasserted the party's defense of pensioner interests, while at the same time requesting youth members, claiming that the party's members require help with modern technology.[11]

Two other right-wing parties founded in the leadup to the 2020 parliamentary election, the National Alliance and Christian Union, originally considered unifying with Juozaitis' movement, but split and the three parties denounced one another.[12]

Juozaitis described it as a "people's party" and claimed that it seeks to replicate the grassroots success of Barack Obama in Lithuania.[12] It received 0.51% of the vote in the election and did not win a single mandate.[13]

Juozaitis resigned as party chairman after the election, on 30 November 2020.[14]

Together with the Vytis[edit]

In June 2021, the party was renamed to its current name, and Vaclovas Žutautas was elected as its new chairman.[15]

In 2022, the Central Electoral Commission seized €6,500 of membership fees after declaring the rate collected as exceeding the maximum of 10% from persons income and subsequently illegal.[16]

It endorsed Valdas Tutkus in the 2024 presidential election, however, he failed to gather the necessary amount of signatures to be registered as a candidate.[17]

Positions[edit]

"Together with the Vytis" supports pensioners' interests, such as indexing of pensions and reform to the retirement fund system.[18] It defines itself as a nationalist party which seeks to defend Lithuanian national values[15] and family values.[12]

It presents itself as an anti-establishment party opposed to a "moral neo-Marxist revolution from the West" and supports geopolitical neutrality.[19] The party also supports nationalization of strategic sectors of the economy, abandoning the Euro and restoring the Lithuanian litas.[20]

Election results[edit]

Seimas[edit]

Election Votes[a] % Seats +/– Government
2016[b] 77,144 6.32 (#5)
0 / 141
 Opposition
2020 5,808 0.51 (#16)
0 / 141
 Steady 0 Opposition
  1. ^ Proportional representation votes.
  2. ^ As a member of the "Anti-Corruption Coalition of Kristupas Krivickas and Naglis Puteikis".

Municipal[edit]

Election Votes[a] % Council seats Mayors +/–
2011 4,136 0.37 (#17)
0 / 1,466
0 / 60
2015 943 0.08 (#20)
0 / 1,473
0 / 60
 Steady 0
2019 Did not compete Did not compete
0 / 1,442
0 / 60
 Steady 0
2023 Did not compete Did not compete
0 / 1,498
0 / 60
 Steady 0
  1. ^ Municipal council election votes.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kartu su Vyčiu, politinė partija". Rekvizitai.
  2. ^ Naureckaitė, Indrė (6 December 2023). "Iš vienų partijų bėga, į kitas puola: atskleidė, kaip atrodo tikrieji partijų veidai". Lrytas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b Tvirbutas, Saulius (14 June 2007). "Senjorai susibūrė po politinės jėgos vėliava". Kauno diena (in Lithuanian).
  4. ^ Damulytė, Jūratė (18 November 2006). "Artėjant rinkimams – užmačios kurti Pensininkų partiją". Delfi (in Lithuanian).
  5. ^ "Prie Seimo 100 pensininkų šaukė, kad nenori euro, ir liepė juos išvežti į Varėnos miškus". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). 1 October 2014.
  6. ^ "Partijų, koalicijų gautų balsų ir mandatų skaičius Lietuvoje". Supreme Electoral Commission of Lithuania (in Lithuanian). 2011.
  7. ^ "Partijų, koalicijų gautų balsų ir mandatų skaičius Lietuvoje". Supreme Electoral Commission of Lithuania (in Lithuanian). 2015.
  8. ^ "VRK įregistravo N. Puteikio ir K. Krivicko koaliciją". Delfi (in Lithuanian). 18 August 2016.
  9. ^ "2016 m. spalio 9 d. Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo rinkimai". Supreme Electoral Commission of Lithuania (in Lithuanian). 31 October 2016.
  10. ^ a b Masiokaitė-Liubinienė, Austėja (20 January 2020). "Former presidential candidate Juozaitis takes helm of 'pensioners' party'". LRT.
  11. ^ a b Masiokaitė-Liubinienė, Austėja (18 January 2020). "Kartų solidarumo sąjungos vairą perėmęs A.Juozaitis: tikimės 20–30 vietų Seime". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian).
  12. ^ a b c Pankūnas, Gytis (19 February 2020). "Naujų dešiniųjų kūrimasis primena serialą: susivieniję netrukus išsiskirstė, dabar kaltina vienas kitą intrigomis". LRT (in Lithuanian).
  13. ^ "2020 m. spalio 11 d. Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo rinkimai". Supreme Electoral Commission of Lithuania (in Lithuanian). 31 October 2020.
  14. ^ "A.Juozaitis traukiasi iš Kartų solidarumo sąjungos-Santalkos Lietuvai pirmininko pareigų". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). 30 November 2020.
  15. ^ a b "PARTIJOS "KARTU SU VYČIU" ATSIRADIMO APLINKYBĖS". Together with the Vytis (in Lithuanian). 29 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Partija "Kartu su Vyčiu" turės į biudžetą grąžinti 6,5 tūkst. eurų nario mokesčio". Diena (in Lithuanian). 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  17. ^ "POLITINĖS PARTIJOS "KARTU SU VYČIU" PAREIŠKIMAS". Party "Together with the Vytis" (in Lithuanian). 4 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Kartų solidarumo sąjunga - Santalka Lietuvai". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian).
  19. ^ "2024 METŲ LR SEIMO RINKIMAI". Party "Together with the Vytis". 17 December 2022.
  20. ^ Tutkus, Valdas (15 November 2023). "Valdas Tutkus – Principinės Programinės Nuostatos". Together with the Vytis (in Lithuanian).
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