Aušrinė Armonaitė

Aušrinė Armonaitė (born 26 May 1989) is a Lithuanian politician who is the current chairperson of the Freedom Party since 2019. Previously a member of the Liberal Movement and a vice chairperson from 2017 until 2018, Armonaitė was first elected to the Seimas in the 2016 parliamentary election. In 2018, she resigned from the Liberal Movement and later joined the social liberal and progressive Freedom Party. She led the party into the 2020 parliamentary election, where the party won 11 seats and became represented in the Seimas for the first time.

Aušrinė Armonaitė MP
27^th Minister for Economy and Innovation of Lithuania
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 December 2020
Prime Minister	Ingrida Šimonytė
Preceded by	Rimantas Sinkevičius
Chairperson of the Freedom Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 June 2019
Preceded by	Position established
Vice Chairperson of the Liberal Movement
In office 21 September 2017 – 2 November 2018
Succeeded by	Simonas Gentvilas
Member of the Seimas
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 November 2020
Preceded by	Position established
Constituency	Lithuanians abroad
In office 14 November 2016 – 12 November 2020
Constituency	Multi-member
Vilnius Municipal Councillor
In office 4 March 2015 – 12 December 2016
Succeeded by	Vytautas Mitalas
Personal details
Born	26 May 1989 Vilnius, Lithuania
Political party	Freedom Party (2019–present)
Other political affiliations	Liberal Movement (until 2018)
Spouse(s)	Edgaras Stanišauskas
Education	Vilnius University (BA; MA)

On 7 December 2020, she was approved to serve as Minister of Economy and Innovation in the Šimonytė Cabinet.[1]

Early life and education

Armonaitė was born in Vilnius. She enrolled in Mykolas Biržiška Gymnasium in 2004, and later graduated in 2008. As a young adult, Armonaitė was elected chairperson of the Lithuanian Liberal Youth in 2010, after first joining the organization as a teenager.[2][3]

After graduating from school, Armonaitė enrolled in the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science in 2012. She later returned to the institution, and received a master's degree in public policy analysis in 2014.[3]

Political career

Early career

Armonaitė began her career in 2013, when she was hired as an analyst for the chamber of commerce the Lithuanian Business Confederation (ICC). She remained in this position for two years, until departing in 2015.[3]

Armonaitė entered elected politics in 2015, after she was elected to the Vilnius municipal council for the Liberal Movement. She resigned from the municipal council in 2016, in order to enter national politics.[3][2]

2016–20

In 2016, Armonaitė was selected to stand for election to the Seimas with the Liberal Movement in the 2016 parliamentary election. Placed on the party's nationwide list, she ultimately was elected to parliament, taking her seat on 14 November 2016. After being elected to the Seimas, Armonaitė was appointed deputy chairperson of the European affairs committee, and also served on the foreign affairs committee. In 2017, she was elected as a vice chairperson of the Liberal Movement.[4][5]

In 2018, Armonaitė announced her departure from the Liberal Movement, and began to serve in parliament as an unaffiliated politician. She later joined the newly formed social liberal and progressive Freedom Party, and was elected to serve as its chairperson. Despite joining the Freedom Party, she continued to be an unaffiliated member of parliament, as the party had not won any seats in the previous election.[6][7]

2020–present

Armonaitė led the Freedom Party into an election for the first time in the 2020 parliamentary election. She stood for election in the newly created Lithuanians abroad constituency, which granted parliamentary representation to Lithuanians living outside of the country. After receiving a plurality of votes in the first round of the election, she ultimately was reelected to parliament in the second round, receiving 53.15% of the vote.[8][9]

Following the certification of election results, the Freedom Party received 11 seats and it emerged that a coalition would likely be formed between the Freedom Party, Liberal Movement, and election winners Homeland Union.[10] Proposing Ingrida Šimonytė as their prime ministerial candidate, Armonaitė is expected to be one of the three main leaders of the incoming government, in addition to Šimonytė and Liberal Movement leader Viktorija Čmilytė, following in the footsteps of the Marin Cabinet in Finland for having a woman-led government.[11][12] On 9 November, the coalition agreement was signed between the Homeland Union, Liberal Movement, and Freedom Party.[13]

Minister of Economy and Innovation

On 18 November 2020, Ingrida Šimonytė confirmed that she intended to nominate Armonaitė to serve as minister of economy and innovation in her cabinet.[14]

Personal life

Armonaitė is married to Edgaras Stanišauskas, whom she met while both were members of the Lithuanian Liberal Youth in 2009.[2]

References

1. "President approves makeup of Simonyte Cabinet". DELFI. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
2. "Šimonytė, Čmilytė-Nielsen ir Armonaitė: kas šios politikės, kurių rankos formuos naują valdžią". Delfi (in Lithuanian). 31 October 2020.
3. "Aušrinė Armonaitė". Seimas. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
4. "Įsteigta liberali Laisvės partija: pirmininke išrinkta Aušrinė Armonaitė". 15min.lt. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
5. "A. Armonaitė: V. Pranckietis perprato savo funkcijas ir Seime ieško kompromisų". lrytas.lt (in Lithuanian). 31 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
6. "A.Armonaitė: kitose frakcijose yra žmonių, nuolat palaikančių valdančiuosius". www.respublika.lt. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
7. "NEJAUKIAI su Tomu Sinickiu: svečiuose Aušrinė Armonaitė". DELFI. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
8. "Armonaite wins parliament election in special constituency for expats". Delfi. 26 October 2020.
9. "The Parliament Elections in Lithuania: A Historic Victory for Women's Leadership and Unprecedented Diaspora Engagement". Pressenza – International Press Agency. 4 November 2020.
10. "Rengiamas koalicijos susitarimas: liberalai parašų dėti neskuba". 15min (in Lithuanian). 4 November 2020.
11. Turp-Balazs, Craig (27 October 2020). "Pledging to fight Covid-19 and introduce tax cuts, women take charge in Lithuania". Emerging Europe.
12. Grigas, Agnia (30 October 2020). "Lithuania's new government: Women-led coalition wins confidence in difficult times". Atlantic Council.
13. "Lithuania's liberal and conservative parties sign coalition agreement". LRT. 9 November 2020.
14. "Šimonytė Nausėdai ant stalo deda ministrų sąrašą: pateiktos konkrečios pavardės kandidatūros nėra patvirtintos Nausėdos". Delfi (in Lithuanian). 18 November 2020.

External links