Lithuania’s Peasant and Greens Union (LPGU) has won nearly 40 percent of the seats in the second round of parliamentary elections that were held yesterday. According to the latest estimates, the party, joined by two independent but LPGU-affiliated candidates, has secured 56 out of 141 seats in the Seimas. 

The Homeland Union won 31 seats, while the winner of the previous elections, the Social Democrats, won only 17 seats. The remaining 37 seats are divided among seven other parties and independent candidates.

The results come as a surprise, as the centrist agrarian LPGU was represented in the previous Seimas by a single parliamentarian. And the first round of elections on 9 October indicated a close win of the Homeland Union over the LPGU.

The election campaign has been dominated by issues such as low wages and the labor exodus from Lithuania to other parts of the EU, the BBC reports. The LPGU is expected to keep Lithuania in NATO, the EU, and eurozone, and to concentrate on stimulating economic growth. The party also plans to increase the state’s role in the economy, create a monopoly on alcohol sales, and establish a state-owned bank to compete with commercial ones.

(TOL)