The Liberal and Centre Union , abbreviated to LiCS, is a centre-right

Centre-right

The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...

, liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 and conservative liberal

Conservative liberalism

Conservative liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or, more simply, representing the right-wing of the liberal movement....

 political party in Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. The party has thirteen seats in the Seimas

Seimas

The Seimas is the unicameral Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...

, making it the fourth-largest party in the legislature.

It is a member of the Liberal International

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

 and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party

European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party

The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...

.

History

It was formed in 2003 by a merger of the Liberal Union of Lithuania

Liberal Union of Lithuania

The Liberal Union of Lithuania was a political party in Lithuania. It had 33 of 141 members of the Seimas.In 2003 it merged with two smaller parties to form the Liberal and Centre Union.-See also:*Liberalism*Contributions to liberal theory...

 (Lietuvos liberalų sąjunga), the Centre Union of Lithuania

Centre Union of Lithuania

Centre Union of Lithuania was a social liberal political party in Lithuania that existed between 1993 and 2003. It was established by the centre-fraction in Sąjūdis...

 (Lietuvos centro sąjunga) and the Modern Christian-Democratic Union

Modern Christian-Democratic Union

Modern Christian-Democratic Union, and the Centre Union of Lithuania to form the Liberal and Centre Union ....

 (Moderniųjų krikščionių demokratų sąjunga).

The combined party is led by Gintautas Babravičius. In the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections

European Parliament election, 2004 (Lithuania)

The European Parliament election of 2004 in Lithuania was the election of MEP representing Lithuania constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. The vote took place on June 13.-Results:...

 it gained 11.2% of the vote and returned 2 MEPs

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

.

At the legislative elections

Elections in Lithuania

Elections in Lithuania gives information on election and election results in Lithuania.Lithuania elects on national level a head of state—the president—and a legislature. The president is elected for a five year term by the people...

 of 2004 the party won 9.1 % of the popular vote and 18 out of 141 seats in the Seimas

Seimas

The Seimas is the unicameral Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...

.

At the legislative elections

Elections in Lithuania

Elections in Lithuania gives information on election and election results in Lithuania.Lithuania elects on national level a head of state—the president—and a legislature. The president is elected for a five year term by the people...

 of 2008

Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2008

A parliamentary election was held in Lithuania in two stages on 12 and 26 October 2008. A failed referendum on extending the operation of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant was held at the same time, despite the fact that Lithuania is obliged to close down Ignalina per its treaty of accession to the...

 the party lost heavily gaining only 8 seats out of its previous 18 and 5.34% of the national vote, leaving the party continuing its tenure in opposition.

The party agreed to absorb the National Resurrection Party

National Resurrection Party

National Resurrection Party was a centre-right political party in Lithuania. Founded in 2008, the party merged into the Liberal and Centre Union in 2011...

, whose MPs had been sitting in the LiCS parliamentary group, on 22 September 2011.

External links

Liberal and Centre Union official website