Main narratives:
- The incompetence of the current government;
- General anti-government sentiments;
- The Conservative Party is the one to blame for everything bad in the country;
- Doubts about the transparency of democratic elections.
Overview:
Throughout the last week, all media attention was focused solely on the Parliament elections that took place during the reporting period. Many anti-government narratives circulated online, as the majority of candidates for the posts took on this stance, harshly criticising the current government, instead of promoting themselves or offering something better.
One of the instances – Petras Gražulis, current MEP, well known for his various homophobic and anti-government statements, issued a series of Facebook reels, where he alone or with his fellow party members, criticised the ruling government, belittled other parties and urger to vote for his nationalist party.
Among the most discussed names was Irma Gajauskaitė, a candidate for the Seimas of the Union of People and Justice (centrists, nationalists), who published a video on the social network Facebook, in which she publicly invited people to come to the Seimas debates held on Friday, to take baseball bats, forks, scythes and use them for “coping”. She was detained after a pre-trial investigation was started.
After the first results started coming in, discussions about the “questionable transparency” of the elections began. The second tour of the elections will take place in two weeks, and until the final results come in, the anti-government and anti-conservative narratives are expected to remain highly active.
