People gathered to express their discontent with MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn, who had violated the Constitution and breached his MP’s oath by making antisemitic statements on social media but was nonetheless re-elected to the Seimas months later.
Approximately 1,000 people attended the rally calling for zero-tolerance for antisemitism. Organisers of the event issued a demand to the LSDP and Democrats For Lithuania to terminate their coalition agreement with the Nemunas Dawn.
One participant of the protest, Augustinas, a pensioner from Vilnius district, said he had voted for the LSDP but did not expect that "antisemite Žemaitaitis would be in power". He hoped the that the composition of the ruling coalition would be changed.
Another protester, Andrius from Vilnius, said it was pathetic that the Nemunas Dawn is part of the government as this harms Lithuania’s image, whereas antisemitism must not be tolerated.
Rallies on Thursday were also held in Kaunas and Tauragė.
Meanwhile, prime minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas, deputy chairman of the LSDP, earlier said that people should respect the decision made by voters in democratic elections.
Before elections, LSDP leader MEP Vilija Blinkevičiūtė promised that she would be the prime minister and that her party would not invite the Nemunas Dawn to the ruling coalition. However, later she decided to continue working in the European Parliament and the party nominated Paluckas for the prime minister instead.
As reported, the LSDP formed the ruling coalition with Democrats For Lithuania and the Nemunas Dawn, and will have 86 out of 141 seats in parliament.
Earlier this year, in April, Žemaitaitis resigned from the Seimas after the Constitutional Court ruled that he violated the Constitution and breached his oath by making antisemitic statements on social media. The move allowed him to avoid impeachment and a ban on elections, and he was able to run for parliament again in October.