On Facebook, the party shared the so-called meme, which shows a young woman focused on a computer, and behind her is a child wrapped in diapers burning in flames. Next to it is written: “Not now honey, mommy is registering for the referendum on retaining citizenship.”
According to the State Data Agency, 4 children died last year due to domestic violence. Violence against children, neglect is still a long-standing problem in Lithuania, and the situation is improving only very slowly.
Political opponents quickly reacted to this advertisement, and the Freedom Party itself hastened to delete the Facebook illustration, writing briefly: “We are putting out the fire.”
Lawyer and National Unification representative Dominykas Vanhara was surprised that conservative Valdas Rakutis’ statements about 30-year-old women not wanting to give birth are universally resented, while the Freedom Party broadcasts the message that a referendum on citizenship is more important to a mother than a baby on fire.
“The Freedom Party contributed to the instigation of the scandal due to V. Rakutis’s words about the birth rate. Because people offended too. What do you think of the Freedom Party’s advertisement for the referendum on dual citizenship? Oh, please, it’s more important for a mother to register for the referendum than her burning baby. It seems that the Freedom Party has long decriminalized not only weed, but also something significantly stronger. Because there is no other way to explain what was going on in the minds of the creators of such advertising”, wondered D. Vanhara.
Arnoldas Pikžirnis, the responsible secretary of the democratic union “Vardan Lietuvos”, also did not understand how it was possible to campaign for the referendum in this way.
“How steep it looks stupid political communication? Like that. It is even difficult to think of what kind of communication would be a more encouraging campaign to vote AGAINST or not to participate in the referendum. Dainiau Žalimai, maybe you could enlighten the LP communication guru? Because it will soon be the second LP in Lithuania to burn in a year”, wrote A. Pikžirnis.
Agnė Širinskienė, a member of the Seimas of the mixed group, frankly wrote what she thought about such advertising: “There was a saying at my baby’s house, ‘not everyone is at home.’ It’s very much about this libertarian advertisement, which doesn’t get tired of using the images of a baby burning alive in order to achieve a political goal.”
