The elections to the Seimas will begin in several months and today this event is mostly discussed in Mass media. The parties are preparing primarily electoral rolls and discuss their tactics.
The elections to the Seimas will begin in several months and today this event is mostly discussed in Mass media. The parties are preparing primarily electoral rolls and discuss their tactics, and the ruling majority not paying regard to the president’s veto even managed to change the procedure of elections in the single-mandated districts.
Corrections made to the elections law, according to which there will be no second round of the elections in the single-mandated districts, brought confusion and uneasiness. This means that the candidate who gets the largest number of votes will become the winner of elections in the single-mandated district. And according to the earlier rules, if the candidate didn’t get more than 50% of votes the second round was announced. According to the political reviewers such corrections are useful for those parties, which have the stable and faithful electors, such as Motherland Union, party of Christian-democrats, Union of Lithuanian Political Prisoners and Deportees, for instance. Such changes are also useful for the popular and famous politicians, for whom it will not be difficult to get the majority of votes in their districts. At the same time those parties who have crated the elective coalitions will have to compete among each other in the single-mandated districts and that is not useful for them., and it is not also easy to find the common candidates what it will be necessary to do it. Valdas Adamkus, the president of Lithuania placed a veto on the correction that was made to the law. According to him, the procedure of elections should’t has been changed: only few months are left and new rules weren’t explained to society, no discussion was made on this question. The president’s opponents claim he is against the changes as it is not benefactious for the “New policy” block he sponsors. In spite of all the corrections were made. Thus, this autumn, the elections in the single-mandated districts will be carried out according to the new rules.
After the attitude of society was examined, it became clear that the left and the center parties are the most popular. These parties have already formed powerful blocks, which, according to the forecasts, will compete during the elections to the Seimas. The parties of the left swing were the first to announce about the creation of coalition. Having cadence the president Algirdas Brazauskas became the leader of the Social democrats and of the Lithuanian democratic party of the work. Thanks to the growing popularity of this politician, coalition of the left now has the greater chances to win stable positions. The new democracy party, the leader of which is Kazimiera Prunskuiene, the first premiere of the independent Lithuania, has also joined this coalition. Algirdas Brazauskas, the leader of the coalition claims he himself is not going to be the candidate of to be the member of the Seimas, but says when the elections are over he won’t be against to take the position of the prime minister.
The members of the “new policy” block, the central and liberal parties are going to participate in the elections separately, but after the elections they are going to form coalition. This block consists of the New Union managed by Arturas Paulauskas, liberals, managed by Rolandas Paksas, Centrists managed by Romualdas Ozolas and the party of modern Christian democrats managed by the member of the Seimas Vytautas Bogushis. The president Valdas Adamkus is considered to be the unofficial sponsor of this block. For this moment The New Union is the favourite, which, according to the latest research can have more than 20 % of electors. Social liberals, Liberals and centrists hope to win, but after changes in the elections law were accepted they their position has complicated a little bit. They wanted their candidates to compete in the single-mandated districts, but now such tactics would not be right and there is a probability to think of the common candidates.
The farmers’ party managed by Ramunas Karbauskis is at the second position in the ratings. The left have offered it to join them but R.Karbauskis says the party is strong enough to participate in the elections alone. So it is going to keep its independence. It expects to get about 13 % of votes. The farmers’ party can cooperate with the Christian democrats’ Union again.
The Conservatives and Christian democrats have little chances. If the elections took place this month these parties wouldn’t have received even a minimum of votes. The right-wing is not going to form coalitions but promise to cooperate with each other at the time of elections.
The parties, which have been created not long ago have little chances, too. In spite of that some of the political movements do not hide their ambitions. Rimantas Dagus, for example was pronounced as a possible premier of “Social democracy, 2000”, though it has no sponsors at all. “Nation fund”, coalition of small parties, the Union of the Lithuanian populists expects to have 10-20 places in the Seimas. Bu the way, not so long ago the 40-th political movement managed by the ex-premier Gediminas Vagnorius appeared.
Some of the powerful parties not only create electoral rolls but also begin formulating their strategy. Arturas Paulauskas, the leader of the New union, decided to nominate for election in Shiauliai, some famous centrists have chosen Kaunas.