Lithuanian president suggests election panel reshuffle

The president voiced her opinion after casting her vote early in the run-off of the mayoral elections in Vilnius.

“I have spoken about my critical opinion on the commission’s work as the Central Electoral Commission is late to respond and sometimes we see that it fails to respond altogether. So, I think, I will have to do something in terms of legislation, and I believe the Seimas should also consider replacing the commission’s leadership before the 2016 Seimas elections. As there are more and more violations with every elections, they are more varied, and the commissions’s quality of work is going down,” the president told journalists at Vilnius Municipality.

Grybauskaitė also confirmed she had not changed her mind about mayoral candidates after the first round of voting.

“My opinion was formed during the first round of voting already and has not changed, and I have already said whom I cannot vote for,” she said.

Ahead of the first round of voting, the president did not say who she was voting for, but insisted she would not vote for two candidates for Vilnius mayor. Without naming them, she said that one of them held pro-Kremlin views and the second had pushed Vilnius into debt.

Incumbent Vilnius Mayor Artūras Zuokas and Liberal Remigijus Šimašius are the two top runners for the post. The voting will take place on Sunday.