Majority of LSDP branches nominate Sinkevičius for party leadership election

Vilnius, 23 March 2026 — A majority of local branches of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) have nominated Mindaugas Sinkevičius, the party’s interim leader, as their candidate for the upcoming leadership election.

According to LSDP representative Andrius Grumadas, 52 branches have proposed Sinkevičius’ candidacy. Three branches nominated Robert Duchnevičius, while one branch each put forward Orinta Leiputė, Juozas Olekas, Vytautas Grubliauskas, Kęstutis Vilkauskas, Nerijus Cesiulis and Tadas Prajara. The LSDP leadership election is scheduled for May.

Duchnevičius has stated he will not run in the election and will instead support Sinkevičius’ candidacy. Sinkevičius has not yet announced whether he will seek to become the permanent leader of the party.

ELTA news agency notes that Sinkevičius, mayor of Jonava district, took over as interim leader in July 2025 following the resignation of Gintautas Paluckas.