Homeland Union

The Tėvynės Sąjunga - Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai ( ' TS- LKD ', complete: Tėvynės sąjunga - Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai ( konservatoriai, politiniai kaliniai ir tremtiniai, tautininkai ), German: Fatherland Alliance - Christian Democrats of Lithuania ( Conservatives, Political Prisoners and Deportees National ) ) is a conservative political party in Lithuania. At the core of today's party forms the Tėvynės Sąjunga ( Lietuvos Konservatoriai ) (TS ( LK) ); German Homeland Association ( Conservatives of Lithuania ). It was founded in May 1993 from the right wing of the Lithuanian Movement for Renewal Sąjūdis and initially led by Vytautas Landsbergis. In May 2003 he was appointed by the current party chairman, the current Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, detached.

The party sees itself as a conservative, is the free market economy, the Lithuania's integration into the West while preserving the national identity. It is next to the Social Democrats, the only party with well-established political structures in Lithuania since the restoration of democracy in 1990 (see also: Lithuanian political landscape ). She is a member of the International Democratic Union and the European People's Party.

In the 1996 elections, the party secured 40 % of the vote and 70 seats in parliament. She then took over the responsibility of government in a coalition with the Christian Democrats, became Prime Minister Gediminas Vagnorius. At the end of the legislative term harm the Conservatives scandals in the privatization of state enterprises and the economic consequences of the ruble crisis. The Christian Democrats were excluded from the coalition and the Homeland Union formed a government without a majority in parliament, first under Andrius Kubilius, then Rolandas Paksas.

With the scheduled 2000 general election, the Homeland Union received the receipt and only came to 8.6 % of the valid votes. She received nine seats and went into opposition.

In the elections to the European Parliament in June 2004 succeeded the Homeland Union feeding with two members to the European Parliament, one of which has since Vytautas Landsbergis. In the elections to the Lithuanian Parliament Seimas on 10 October 2004, the Tėvynės Sąjunga received 14.6 % of the vote and won 25 of 141 seats. She remained in opposition.

The by another party mergers (see below) consolidated Homeland Union emerged from the elections in October 2008 as the winner, she received almost 20 % of the votes and a total of 44 of the 141 seats in the Seimas ( including 26 direct mandates, that's more than a third of all direct mandates ). They formed a center-right coalition of four parties that, on 28 November 2008 chose the former opposition leader and leader of the TS- LKD, Andrius Kubilius in Parliament the new prime minister. The Conservatives put 7 of the 14 ministers in the new cabinet.

From the 2009 European election the Tėvynes Sąjunga emerged as the strongest party in Lithuania and gained four seats, including one for the list leader Vytautas Landsbergis.

Party mergers

In 2004, it came before the upcoming parliamentary and European elections to consolidate the conservative political spectrum: the Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees ( Lithuanian Lietuvos politinių kalinių ir tremtinių sąjunga ) in February 2004, and the Union of Right of Lithuania ( Lithuanian Lietuvos dešiniujų sąjunga ) occurred in the Tėvynės Sąjunga that from then on under the name Tėvynės Sąjunga ( konservatoriai, politiniai kaliniai ir tremtiniai, krikščioniškieji demokratai ) changed its name ( German homeland Union ( Conservatives, political prisoners and displaced persons, Christian Democrats ) ).

Prior to the 2008 general election, led a renewed consolidation in the right political spectrum to the accession of the faction of the Lithuanian People's Union ( Lithuanian Lietuvių tautininkų sąjunga ) in March 2008 and two months later the company merged with the traditional party of the Lithuanian Christian Democrats ( Lithuanian Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai, short often krikdemai ). Since then, the official name on Tėvynės Sąjunga - Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai ( konservatoriai, politiniai kaliniai ir tremtiniai, tautininkai ) (TS- LKD see above).

In the party continue to act so-called " fractions " of the Christian Democrats ( since 2003), the National (since 2008) and the Political Prisoners and Deportees (since 2007) and the Community of the Christian Democrats ( since 2008). The latter joined in February 2009 with the Group of the Christian Democrats together. The new group will be constituted not only within the party but also in the parliamentary party. The party now has almost 15,000 members, making it next to the Social Democrats, the largest party in Lithuania.