Farmers' Party (Lithuania)

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The Farmers' Party (Lithuanian: Ūkininkų partija, ŪP) was a political party in inter-war Lithuania.

History

The party was established as the Democratic National Freedom League (Demokratinė tautos laisvės santara) in March 1917 by Lithuanian refugees in Saint Petersburg.[1] It failed to win a seat in the 1923 elections.

In 1925, it became the "Farmers' Party", and won two seats in the 1926 elections, forming part of the government coalition with the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union and the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.[2] Following the 1926 coup, the party was a member of Antanas Smetona's coalition government alongside the Lithuanian Nationalist Union and the Christian Democratic Bloc.[2] It pulled out of the coalition in 1928, and was banned later in the year.[1]

Ideology

The party held had secular and liberal platform, and unlike other agrarian parties, advocated religious tolerance. It sought to support the interests of agriculture and industry, as well as measures to develop Lithuanian culture.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Vincent E McHale (1983) Political parties of Europe, Greenwood Press, p. 473 ISBN 0-313-23804-9
  2. 1 2 McHale, p. 487
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