Party leaders refuse to lead election lists

A distinctive feature of this year‘s parliamentary election campaign in Lithuania is that many party leaders refuse to lead their parties in the election lists.

Liberal Movement leader Eligijus Masiulis fell due to corruption suspicions, later Labour Party leader Valentinas Mazuronis decided not to run for a Seimas seat, while Justice and Order leader Rolandas Paksas is not allowed to lead his party candidate list because of previous impeachment. The latest case is of Valdemar Tomaševski, the leader of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, who has announced he would not be leaving his seat in the European Parliament to run for one in the Seimas.

Both Valentinas Mazuronis and Valdemar Tomaševksi have decided to keep their MEP mandates along with sizeable salaries, generous social benefits and career opportunities, rather than once again submit themselves to the will of the voters.

In political party rankings, the social democrats, the Peasant and Greens Union and the conservatives have pulled away from the other parties. The Liberal Movement is starting to regain its position after the corruption scandal and the Social Democratic Party is losing ground every month.

Alfa.lt