Labor Party (Lithuania)

Labour Party Darbo Partija

Abbreviation	DP
Chairman	Šarūnas Birutis (acting)
First Vice Chairman	Valentinas Bukauskas
Vice Chairpeople	Ingrida Baltušytė-Četrauskienė Petras Kuizinas Gitana Markovičienė Žaneta Simanavičienė
Executive Secretary	Ingrida Karpuškaitė
Founded	2003
Headquarters	Ankštoji g. 3, Vilnius
Membership	15,500 (July 2011)
Ideology	Centrism, Social liberalism, Populism
Political position	Centre-left
European affiliation	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
European Parliament group	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colours	Blue, White
Seats in the Seimas	2 / 141
Seats in the European Parliament	2 / 11
Municipal councils	147 / 1,473
Mayors	2 / 60
Website
www.darbopartija.lt
Politics of Lithuania Political parties Elections

The Labour Party (Lithuanian: Darbo Partija, DP) is a centre-left populist political party in Lithuania. The party was founded in 2003 by the Russian-born millionaire businessman Viktor Uspaskich.

In its first electoral test, the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections, it was by far the most successful party gaining 30.2% of the vote and returning 5 MEPs. It joined the European Democratic Party and thus the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group. At the legislative elections of 2004, the party won 28.4% of the popular vote and 39 out of 141 seats, making it the largest single party in the Parliament of Lithuania. After the election Labour formed a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, New Union and Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union.

In June 2006 the party moved to opposition, while some of its members (including Speaker of the Seimas Viktoras Muntianas) founded Civic Democratic Party and joined new coalition led by Gediminas Kirkilas. At the legislative elections of 2008 the party lost heavily, retaining only 10 seats in the Seimas from its previous 39 and obtaining 9% of the national vote.