Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania
The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania ( Lithuanian Lietuvos lenkų rinkimų akcija, LLRA; Polish Akcja Wyborcza Polaków na Litwie, AWPL ) is a political party in Lithuania. She is the representative of the Polish minority in the country. In the European Parliament she joined, founded in July 2009 Group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
The LLRA has its stronghold in the traditional settlement areas of the Polish minority in Lithuania, so the outskirts of Vilnius and the south in the areas around Šalčininkai, as well as the capital, Vilnius, is itself due to this rural, mostly little affluent population than the electorate a choice program with an emphasis on social demands for job creation, minimum wage and pension increase and support for farmers and large families. In addition, the LLRA sees as an advocate of national minorities, in addition to Poland in this field mainly Russians and Belarusians. Of particular attention in this context are the education policy and language policy. The LLRA calls for better funding for schools in the country and the recognition of foreign qualifications, as well as bilingualism in areas with more than 10% minority share of the population. The LLRA calls for more rights for local self-government and the acceleration of restitution with the principle of restitution before compensation.
In principle, the LLRA coalition is capable with all parties, due to the reservations of the Lithuanian national conservative parties against the Polish minority and the rather poorer own electorate it is driven to a socially conservative economic policy orientation (eg, Liberal Democrats or peasant party ).
The LLRA, which was constituted in its present form in 1994, has been consistently maintained since the first free parliamentary elections in Lithuania, with two seats in the Seimas ( direct seats in the constituencies No. 55, Vilnius Širvintos, and No. 56, Vilnius Šalčininkai ). After the first elections after the regained independence of Lithuania in October 1992, the representative of the Polish minority (then Polish Union of Lithuania ) was even represented by four MPs. At that time the parties of national minorities were still of the 5- percent threshold (then 4%) excluded. In the elections to the Lithuanian Parliament Seimas on 12 October 2008, the Lietuvos lenkų rinkimų akcija achieved even 4.8% of the vote, which they failed just short of the 5 percent threshold, and moved with three direct mandates in parliament (additional direct mandate in constituency No. 57, Vilnius - Trakai ). Elections to the European Parliament in June 2009 brought a further strengthening of the Party: You could with the nation's 8.4 % of the vote easily skip the 5 percent hurdle and is now present with deputies, their party chairman Valdemar Tomaševski, in the European parliament. This joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR ) to; In October 2009, the LLRA the European Conservatives and Reformists was involved ( AECR ) in the foundation of Europe party alliance. In the parliamentary elections in Lithuania in 2012, the party 3 of 71 direct mandates reached (one already in the first round ) and 5.8 % of the vote.
In the local elections in February 2007, she was able to extend its dominant position in local politics further: they received in the district of Vilnius 19 of 27 and in a circle Šalčininkai 20 of 25 mandates. In the capital, Vilnius LLRA is represented since 1997 with 5-6 seats in the city council. In the controversial mayoral elections in 2003, she played a key role (see Artūras Zuokas ).
The LLRA had end 2008 1100 members.