New Union (Social Liberals)

New Union (Social Liberals) Naujoji sąjunga (socialliberalai)
Leader	Artūras Paulauskas
Founded	1998 (1998)
Dissolved	9 July 2011
Merged into	Labour Party
Headquarters	10/1 Gedimino pr., Vilnius
Ideology	Social liberalism
Political position	Centre-left
International affiliation	Liberal International (observer)
European affiliation	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Parliament Group	None
Official colours	Blue, white
Website
www.nsajunga.lt
Politics of Lithuania Political parties Elections

The New Union (Social Liberals) (Lithuanian: Naujoji sąjunga (socialliberalai), abbreviated to NS, was a centre-left, social liberal party in Lithuania. The NS is member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and is an observer at Liberal International. It was founded in 1998 and is led by Artūras Paulauskas.

Its policy was based on social liberalism: the principal values of which are personal freedom, social solidarity, welfare of people and justice.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000 it formed a coalition government with the Liberal Union, and in 2001 a new coalition with the Social Democrats and later on in 2004 a coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and the Labour Party which lasted until 2008.

Its candidate Vilija Blinkevičiūtė won 16.6% of the votes in the 2004 presidential election. At that year's parliamentary election, the party ran in alliance with the Social Democratic Party under the label 'Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas and Artūras Paulauskas: Working for Lithuania'. The list won 31 seats out of 141, of which the New Union won 11.

At the 2008 parliamentary election, the party lost heavily, winning only 1 seat in the Seimas and only 3.64% of the national vote. Due to the Labour Party (DP) also losing heavily, the coalition between the NS, DP, and Social Democratic Party collapsed and was replaced by a centre-right coalition under Andrius Kubilius, leaving the New Union in opposition.

The party's one member in the Seimas, Valerijus Simulik, sat with the Social Democratic Party. In 2011, the party merged with the Labour Party. A minority faction switched to the Liberal and Centre Union (LiCS).

See also

• Liberalism in Lithuania

External links

• New Union (Social Liberals) Official site