News2022.06.14 14:31

MEP Viktor Uspaskich steps down as leader of Lithuania’s Labour Party

Lithuanian politician and member of the European Parliament Viktor Uspaskich has announced that he is resigning as the chairman of the opposition Labour Party.

“I hereby announce that I am resigning as the chairman of the Labour Party and ending my career as an active politician. For me, as a politician, the Labour Party constitutes a major stage of life, the sentiments are mixed as it was and still is the first political organization that I joined and then became its leader,” he said in a letter to fellow party members on Tuesday.

Uspaskich explained that he decided to resign in order to “provide a new impetus for the party, new ideas, and youthfulness”.

Uspaskich, a Russian-born Lithuanian entrepreneur and politician, founded the Labour Party in 2003. He served as Lithuania’s economy minister from 2004-2005. He has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014.

The Labour Party currently has nine seats in the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas.

Speaking with BNS, Viktoras Fiodorovas, the head of the Labour Party group in the Seimas, said Uspaskich’s decision to step down was unexpected.

The party’s presidium is scheduled to meet later on Tuesday to approve the interim leader, likely to be one of the seven vice-presidents.

A party convention to pick a new leader is due to be held within a couple of months.

Fiodorovas says Uspaskich will remain an active party member and will continue representing the party in the European Parliament.

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