Editing Order and Justice (section)

==History==

===Early years (2002–2004)===
After being defeated in the leadership election for the [[Liberal Union of Lithuania|Liberal Union]], [[Rolandas Paksas]] founded the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2002, taking with him 13 of his supporters from Liberal parliamentary group in the Seimas, making the party the fourth-largest party.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2003"/> Nationally, founders of the new party were not only Liberal Union's members. It attracted members of [[Lithuanian Centre Union]] (e. g. [[Kęstutis Trečiokas]]) and [[New Union (Social Liberals)]].

Paksas finished second in the first round of the [[Lithuanian presidential election, 2002–2003|presidential election]] on 22 December, with 19.7%: qualifying him for a run-off against [[incumbent]] [[President of Lithuania|President]] [[Valdas Adamkus]].<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2003"/> For the run-off, Paksas represented a youthful alternative to the ageing candidate, adopting the slogan 'Vote for Change';<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2004">{{cite journal |last=Krupavicius |first=Algis |date=December 2004 |title=Lithuania |journal=[[European Journal of Political Research]] |volume=43 |issue=7–8 |pages=1059–69 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-6765.2004.00201.x }}</ref> despite all the parties except the LDP backing Adamkus, he won across almost all of the country, with 54.7%.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2003"/>  The campaign was likened to the previous spring's [[2002 French presidential election|French presidential election]] and Paksas to [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]] for his [[populism]].<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2003" /> However, unlike Le Pen, the Paksas immediately announced his support for Lithuania's ongoing process of accession to the [[European Union]] and [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]].<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2003" />

In June, 2003, Paksas set about fighting [[political corruption]] that saw 700 public officials under the old administration acquire land illegally.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2004"/> However, this was soon overshadowed by revelations in October that Paksas gave [[citizenship]] to, and heard requests for political favours from, [[Yury Borisov]], a [[Russia]]n businessman that had donated $400,000 to Paksas's campaign, and that high-ranking members of Paksas's staff had connections to Russian criminal groups.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2004" />  Although Paksas was found not to have been influenced by the criminals, his staff had been; Paksas offered that his six close advisers named in the report resign, but calls for Paksas himself to resign mounted.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2004" />

Paksas alleged that the parliamentary commission set up to investigate the claims was set up for political reasons, and refused to cooperate.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2004" /> In response, the four other parties ([[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania]], [[New Union (Social Liberals)]], [[Liberal and Centre Union]] and [[Homeland Union]]) initiated [[impeachment]] proceedings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www3.lrs.lt/posedziai/4/bals_13155_2.htm|title=Balsavimo rezultatai}}</ref> In December, the [[Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania|Constitutional Court]] ruled that granting citizenship to Borisovas was illegal and impeachable.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2004" /> Despite this, Paksas remained popular with the public.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2004" /> On 6 April 2004, the Seimas voted to impeach him and remove him from office on three counts with 86, 86, and 89 MPs voting to impeach, with 85 required.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2005">{{cite journal |last=Krupavicius |first=Algis |date=December 2005 |title=Lithuania |journal=[[European Journal of Political Research]] |volume=44 |issue=7–8 |pages=1086–101 |doi= 10.1111/j.1475-6765.2005.00273.x}}</ref> Nonetheless, after his impeachment, he was tried in the criminal courts, and acquitted on all charges.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2005" /> The Constitutional Court found that Paksas shall be precluded for life from being elected as president, as a member of the Seimas and some other high-ranking official positions. Paksas complained against the lifetime duration of the impeachment and filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg). In January 2011 the Court rendered his judgement in favor of Paksas. In spite of the Conventual obligation to fulfill Judgements of the Court and in spite of enforcement proceedings by the Council of Europe the Judgement of the European Court of Human Rights has not been fulfilled. In 2012 Paksas complained to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. In March 2014 the Committee found that the lifelong disqualification from political office violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. As of 2018 the violations of Human Rights as found by the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Committee on Human Rights still persist.

===Recovery (2004–2006)===
[[2004 Lithuanian presidential election|Another presidential election]] was scheduled to elect a replacement for Paksas. The LDP nominated Paksas, giving the people a referendum on his impeachment. Whilst his nomination was initially accepted, it was then thrown out by the Constitutional Court, leaving the LDP without a nominee in the election.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2005" /> In the [[2004 European Parliament election in Lithuania|first election]] to the [[European Parliament]], the LDP won 6.8% of the vote, and one seat.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2005" /> The member of the [[European Parliament]] from the Lithuanian Liberal Democratic party was [[Rolandas Pavilionis]], a former rector of [[Vilnius University]]. He joined the [[Union for Europe of the Nations]].

Throughout Paksas's scandal and impeachment, the Liberal Democrats presented soft opposition to the governing centre-left coalition, alongside the united [[Liberal and Centre Union]] and [[Homeland Union]]. In the [[2004 Lithuanian parliamentary election|parliamentary election]] in October, the LDP formed a coalition called ''Coalition for Rolandas Paksas 'For Order and Justice' '', which was successful in winning 11 seats. However, the centre-left coalition managed to hold on to power, thanks to a failure of the centre-right parties to agree to cooperate.<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2005" />

===Renaming and joining the government (2006–2016)===
The congress of the party, held on 13 May 2006, declared, that the party had passed a difficult stage of its establishment successively, encouraging people of Lithuania to constantly oppose corruption and power misapplication in the country and changing the name of the party to 'Order and Justice'. The formal reason for changing the name was the fact that four different political groups used the word 'liberal' in their names. According to unofficial views of some party members, the new name mirrors the party's more conservative position than when it was founded in 2002.

In the [[2007 Lithuanian municipal elections|2007 municipal elections]], although the party was disappointed with the general results, it won a [[Plurality (voting)|plurality]] in [[Vilnius]], and formed a coalition with the [[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania|Social Democratic Party]] (LSDP) under mayor [[Juozas Imbrasas]].<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2008">{{cite journal |last=Krupavicius |first=Algis |date=December 2008 |title=Lithuania |journal=[[European Journal of Political Research]] |volume=47 |issue=7–8 |pages=1048–59 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-6765.2008.00800.x }}</ref> This was despite Law and Order members of the Seimas then supporting [[motion of no confidence|motions of no confidence]] in several LSDP cabinet members for handling of the [[privatization|privatisation]] of [[Alita (company)|Alita]].<ref name="Algis Krupavicius 2008" />

The Order and Justice Party ran in the [[2008 Lithuanian parliamentary election|2008 election]] to the Seimas with a tactic of decontaminating Paksas, despite Paksas's inability to hold political office after his impeachment, and released a [[film]] that was shown in cinemas nationwide.<ref name="Mindaugas Jurkynas" /> Aiming to greatly increase its number of seats and form the new government, the party saw its share of the vote increase only slightly, to 12.7%, and its number of seats increase by 4, to 15.<ref name="Mindaugas Jurkynas" /> This minor increase was attributed to the rise of the [[National Resurrection Party]], which shared the same electorate as the Order and Justice. The dramatic doubling of the centre-right's share of seats allowed them to form a government: including three parties, but not the Order and Justice.<ref name="Mindaugas Jurkynas" />

At the [[2009 European Parliament election in Lithuania|2009 European elections]], the Order and Justice won two seats, up from one in 2004, coming third. After the election, they left the disbanding [[Union for Europe of the Nations]] (UEN), and joined the more eurosceptic [[Europe of Freedom and Democracy]] (EFD).

In May 2012, ahead of the [[2012 Lithuanian parliamentary election|October 2012 election]], Order and Justice signed a pact with the [[Labour Party (Lithuania)|Labour]] and the [[Social Democratic Party of Lithuania|Social Democrats]] to cooperate in any post-election negotiations.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lithuania's three major opposition parties sign electoral agreement |url=http://www.15min.lt/en/article/politics/lithuania-s-three-major-opposition-parties-sign-electoral-agreement-526-221526 |newspaper=[[15 min]] |date=25 May 2012 |access-date=29 May 2012}}</ref> The Order and Justice joined government with these parties, which lasted up until 2016.

Following the [[2014 European Parliament election in Lithuania|2014 European election]], the Order and Justice MEPs rejoined the EFD group in the European Parliament, which was renamed [[Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy]] (EFDD) for the new parliamentary term. In [[2016 Lithuanian parliamentary election|October 2016 election]], the party fared poorly by getting 8 seats in Seimas. After this result, Rolandas Paksas resigned as party's chairman.

===Decline and dissolution (2016–2025)===
By the summer of 2018, negotiations started between Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania and the Order and Justice considering possible cooperation between them. On September 11, 2018, those parties signed a [[confidence and supply]] agreement. On May 29, 2019, Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania and Order and Justice chairmen [[Gediminas Kirkilas]] and [[Remigijus Žemaitaitis]] announced to public that talks about expanded coalition between these parties and Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union has started.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vz.lt/verslo-aplinka/2019/05/29/valdanciosios-koalicijos-sutartis-stabdoma-pradedamos-derybos-del-jos-atnaujinimo|title=Valdančiosios koalicijos sutartis stabdoma, pradedamos derybos dėl jos atnaujinimo|first=Bns, Stasys|last=Gudavičius|website=vz.lt}}</ref> On June 7, 2019, [[Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance]] council agreed that party should join these talks,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvosdiena/aktualijos/2019/06/07/news/v-tomasevskis-dalyvausime-derybose-del-valdanciosios-koalicijos-10657746/|title=V. Tomaševskis: dalyvausime derybose dėl valdančiosios koalicijos|date=June 7, 2019|website=lrytas.lt}}</ref> which were concluded on July 5, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.respublika.lt/lt/naujienos/lietuva/lietuvos_politika/baigiamos_derybos_del_koalicijos_planuojama_pasirasyti_sutarti/|title=Baigiamos derybos dėl koalicijos: planuojama pasirašyti sutartį|website=Respublika.lt - naujienų ir žinių portalas|date=12 July 2023 }}</ref>

New coalition lasted just for two months as the Order and Justice parliamentary group dissolved itself on September 10, 2019, when majority of the Order and Justice parliamentary group's members founded new parliamentary group called "For the Welfare of Lithuania" (which by itself existed up until mid-January 2020).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/lietuva/nauja-tvarkieciu-atskalunu-frakcija-be-mindaugo-puidoko-56-1201370|title="Tvarkiečių" atskalūnų frakcija – be M.Puidoko: "R.Karbauskiui asmeniškumai svarbiau nei stabilumas"|website=15min.lt}}</ref> On September 19, 2019, this parliamentary group signed a confidence and supply agreement with coalition's parties. On October 23, 2019, the Order and Justice had been expelled from coalition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tv3.lt/naujiena/lietuva/1016722/koalicijoje-neliko-tvarkos-ir-teisingumo-partijos|title=Koalicijoje neliko "Tvarkos ir teisingumo" partijos|website=tv3.lt}}</ref>

By the end of 2018, Rolandas Paksas left the party. By this Order and Justice lost its representative in the European Parliament. In 2019 and 2020 the party lost many notorious members (e. g. [[Petras Gražulis]], Kęstas Komskis) by expulsions or resignations. On September 25, 2019, Remigijus Žemaitaitis proposed formation of new party called "Sovereign Lithuania" or "United Lithuania – Sovereign Lithuania".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.delfi.lt/lietuvoje/article.php?id=82352477|title = "Tvarkiečiai" rado sprendimą: Kurs naują partiją ir ieškos naujo lyderio}}</ref>

Prior the [[2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election|2020 parliamentary election]], former party members joined ranks not only in the [[Freedom and Justice]], but also in the [[Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union]] (e. g. Algimantas Dumbrava) and in the [[Liberal Movement (Lithuania)|Liberal Movement]] (e. g. most of [[Pagėgiai Municipality]] members along with the mayor, Vaidas Bendaravičius).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.diena.lt/naujienos/lietuva/politika/tvarkos-ir-teisingumo-pagegiu-skyrius-pereina-i-liberalu-sajudi-952645|title="Tvarkos ir teisingumo" Pagėgių skyrius pereina į Liberalų sąjūdį|first=Jūratė|last=Skėrytė|website=diena.lt|date=13 February 2020 }}</ref>

Party underwent a prolonged disestablishment, partly due to being a defendant in criminal procedings. [[Almantas Petkus]], the former secretary-general lead the party through this time. Finally, the party was convicted for BK 226, [[influence peddling]] in November 2023 and ordered to pay around €113 thousand in damages while another €279 thousand were confiscated as ilicit gains.<ref>https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/1361959/prekybos-poveikiu-byla-tvarkai-ir-teisingumui-112-tukst-euru-bauda-buvusiam-seimo-nariui-ir-verslininkams-lygtines-bausmes</ref><ref>https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/2131732/likviduojama-partija-tvarka-ir-teisingumas-galutinai-nuteista-uz-prekyba-poveikiu</ref> However then the party was subsequently liquidated on 2 January 2025.