Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania

Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos lenkų rinkimų akcija, Polish: Akcja Wyborcza Polaków na Litwie), abbreviated to AWPL or LLRA, is a centre-right Lithuanian political party. It represents the Polish minority and positions itself as Christian democratic. It has 3 seats in the Seimas, 1 seat in the European Parliament, and 11 seats in coalition with the Russian Alliance in the Vilnius City Municipality.^[1]

Formed in 1994 from the political wing of the Association of Poles in Lithuania, AWPL experienced a surge in support in the 2000s, under the leadership of Waldemar Tomaszewski. It increased its representation from under 2% in 2000 to 3.8% in 2004 and 4.8% in the most recent election, in 2008. In the 2009 European election, they won 8.2% and one seat. The party's vote is concentrated in the south-east of the country, around the capital, where the Polish minority is located.

In the Seimas, the party sits with fellow centre-right party Order and Justice. AWPL's MEP, leader Waldemar Tomaszewski, sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists, which includes the Polish Law and Justice and Poland Comes First, and the party is a member of the AECR.

History

At the beginning of 1994 the law on social organisations was adopted. According to this law, social organisations had to transform into political parties or simply remain social organizations. Till that time the Association of Poles in Lithuania (APL) was a public-political organisation. Thus it had the option to act both in social and political spheres. The Polish community which did not have its own party faced the difficult task of keeping the Association and simultaneously enabling its participation in the political life of Lithuania at the same time. The appointment of the party required a lot of organizational effort. In this situation the central administration of the APL convened 5th Extraordinary Conference of APL on 14th August. During the Conference the decision was adopted to transform the APL into a social organisation and support the efforts of the group initiating the establishment of a party set up under the name of the Electoral Action of the APL. Finally, on 23rd October after the pressure from the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice to remove the word ‘Union’ from the name of the party, it was registered as the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (AWPL). During the Founding Conference of 1994 and 1997 Jan Sienkiewicz was elected as an AWPL president. In 1999 during the 3rd AWPL Conference Waldemar Tomaszewski became the president of the organisation. Moreover, Tomaszewski was elected as a president on the 4th and 5th AWPL Conferences.

The AWPL takes part in various elections – starting with municipal through parliamentary and ending with the elections to the European Parliament in 2004. During the whole period of its existence the AWPL took part in defense of the interests of the Polish minority in Lithuania. The Union of the Russians of Lithuania had cooperated with the AWPL in elections, running within a common list in 2004.

Election results

Below are charts of the results that the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (and the Association of Poles in Lithuania in 1992) has secured in the Seimas at each election. Timelines showing the number of seats and percentage of votes won are on the right.

Leaders

• Jan Sienkiewicz (1994 – 1999)
• Waldemar Tomaszewski (1999 – present day)

Footnotes

External links

• Official website (Lithuanian) (Polish)