Left wing unites to create largest party

Two left-leaning political parties, the Democratic Labor Party of Ceslovas Jursenas and the Social Democratic Party of Vytenis Andriu kaitis, announced their merger during a joint party congress in Vilnius on Jan. 27. The newly-created party will keep the title of the Social Democratic Party. With 15,000 members it is Lithuania's biggest political party. Former President Algirdas Brazauskas was elected as the party's chairman while Andriu kaitis and Jursenas became his first deputies.