Jurgis Razma

He is a Lithuanian conservative politician and has been a member of the Seimas (Parliament) since 1996.

Jurgis Razma was born on 14 March 1958 in Žvirblaičiai village, Plungė District, Lithuania.

Jurgis Razma was born on 14 March 1958 in Žvirblaičiai village, Plungė District, Lithuania.

He was born into a family of collective farm workers (kolkhoz laborers).

Razma earned a diploma in physics from Vilnius State University’s Faculty of Physics, graduating in 1981.

In 1976, he graduated from Plungė Secondary School No. 4 (now known as Senamiesčio School).

From 1965 to 1968, Razma attended the Didvyčiai primary school in Plungė District.

As of late 2024, an ordinary Seimas member’s base salary was about €4,000 “į rankas” (net) per month, nearly double the roughly €2,077 net in 2020. Seimas Vice Speakers earn more; newly elected Vice Speaker Agnė Širinskienė noted her monthly pay would be ~€4,500 net. (Razma’s salary as First Deputy Speaker in 2020–2024 is estimated to have been in a similar range, around €2,500–€3,000 net per month in earlier years.)

From 1981 to 1991, Razma worked as a senior engineer at the Faculty of Physics of Vilnius State University.

Razma has been in the leadership of the Homeland Union (TS-LKD) since 1993 as a member of its Council and Presidium.

In August 2024, he was appointed acting leader of the TS-LKD parliamentary faction in the Seimas after the incumbent Andrius Vyšniauskas resigned.

He served as First Deputy Speaker of the Seimas during the 13th Seimas (2020–2024).

In the same term (2020–2024), Razma was also the First Deputy Chair of the TS-LKD (Homeland Union) Political Group in the Seimas.

Razma chaired the parliamentary support group for the Rail Baltica project in 2015–2016.

He served as a deputy chairman of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats party from 2013 to 2015.

He led the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrat Political Group in the Seimas as its Chair from 2008 to 2012.

Razma was Deputy Chair of the Homeland Union’s parliamentary group in the Seimas from 2004 to 2008.

In early 2004, Razma served as one of the impeachment prosecutors during the parliamentary trial of President Rolandas Paksas.

During the 7th Seimas (1996–2000), Razma served as Secretary General of the Office of the Seimas.

He was also a member of the Board of the Seimas during the 1996–2000 term.

He was the chairman of the Seimas Interparliamentary Relations Group with Japan from 1996 to 2000.

He served as a member of the Vilnius City Municipal Council and its Board from 1995 to 1996.

From 1992 to 1993, he was an assistant to Seimas member Tautvydas Lideikis.

In 1991–1992, Razma served as an adviser to the Prime Minister of Lithuania.

On 13 December 2024, Razma became Deputy Chair of the Seimas Committee on Audit.

Since 4 December 2024, he has been a member of the Seimas Commission for Ethics and Procedures.

He was repeatedly a member of the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission in multiple terms (e.g., 2004–2012 and 2016–2024).

In the 2024 Seimas elections, Razma again contested the Plungė–Rietavas single-member district. He led in the first round with 21.22% of the vote (3,501 votes), narrowly ahead of Tomas Domarkas (20.62%, 3,402 votes). Razma ultimately secured re-election through the TS-LKD’s national party list, on which he was ranked 13th – the party won 17 proportional seats, guaranteeing him a mandate regardless of the runoff outcome.

He was again elected to the Seimas in 2024 via the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrat party list.

He was again elected to the Seimas in 2024 via the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrat party list.

In 2020, he was re-elected to the Seimas on the TS-LKD’s nationwide party list.

He was elected to the 2016–2020 Seimas via the Homeland Union’s national party list (proportional representation).

Razma has often secured his Seimas seat via a high position on the TS-LKD’s national list, even in elections where he did not win the single-member district. For example, after narrowly losing in Plungė–Rietavas in 2012, he still entered parliament as the 4th-ranked candidate on his party’s list (with 38,358 preferential votes, keeping him at that rank). Likewise, in 2024 he placed only first in the initial round of district voting (21.22%), but his 13th place on the TS-LKD list guaranteed him re-election since the party earned 17 proportional seats.

In the 2012 Seimas elections, Razma ran in the Plungė–Rietavas single-member constituency but was defeated by Social Democrat Jonas Jagminas, who won outright in the first round with 52.06% of the valid votes (7,517 votes) to Razma’s 47.94% (6,923 votes). Nonetheless, Razma secured a parliamentary seat via the TS-LKD’s national list – he was ranked 4th on the party list and received 38,358 preferential (reitingo) votes, maintaining his list position.

In the 2012–2016 term, he was elected from the Plungė–Rietavas single-member constituency (No. 35), representing his home region.

Razma was elected to the Seimas for the first time in 1996 and has been re-elected in every parliamentary election since.

Razma has participated in every parliamentary election since 1996, often via a high placement on the TS-LKD’s national list. He won the Plungė–Rietavas single-member constituency only once – in the 2012 Seimas elections (after a two-round vote). In 2016, he was defeated in that district by Liberal candidate Jonas Varkalys, who secured about 55% of the vote in the runoff. Razma similarly did not win the constituency in 2020 or 2024 (losing to Jonas Varkalys and to Tomas Domarkas, respectively), but in each case he still entered the Seimas via the TS-LKD’s proportional representation list, thanks to his strong ranking (for instance, he was 4th on the party list in 2012, backed by approximately 38.3 k preferential votes).

Razma’s 2023 asset declaration revealed significant gains in declared property values compared to 2022. The reported worth of his apartment almost doubled (from €105,000 to €198,000) and his land holdings value tripled (from €8,000 to €24,900), even though his savings fell from €23,000 to €15,000. He also acquired €10,000 in government bonds in 2023. His wife Vilija’s declared assets remained stable – a house valued at €40,000 and about €15,000 in savings (with a minor increase in her land value from €1,700 to €2,990). These shifts in value were noted without any major new income sources explicitly listed, suggesting they resulted from updated property valuations rather than new acquisitions.

Razma’s asset and income declaration for 2015 (filed ahead of the 2016 elections) showed that he and his family had €121,800 worth of registrable assets (real estate, vehicles, etc.) and about €5,500 in savings, against €33,000 in outstanding loans. His income that year was €40,645.8 (with €5,967 paid in income tax).

He served as Executive Secretary of the Lithuanian Reform Movement Sąjūdis from 1993 to 1995.

In 1988, Razma became an active member of the Lithuanian Reform Movement Sąjūdis from its inception.

He is a member of the Seimas Samogitian Group, an informal parliamentary group uniting MPs from the Žemaitija region.

In October 2002, Razma’s 19-year-old daughter was caught with a small amount of heroin and fined, an incident that caused a public scandal.

In September 2024, as Vice Speaker, Razma urged amending the election laws to mandate clearer declaration of any candidates’ past ties with the KGB.

He married his assistant, Vilija Butkevičienė, in December 2016.

After 33 years of marriage, Razma and his first wife Romualda divorced in 2015.

He is married and has two adult daughters.