Arturas Paulauskas: an impeachment vote against President Rolandas Paksas, accused of grave violations of the constitution and his oath, could take place by the end of March

Parliament Chairman Arturas Paulauskas said Friday an impeachment vote against President Rolandas Paksas, accused of grave violations of the constitution and his oath, could take place by the end of March. Lithuania's parliament has approved formal impeachment proceedings against President Rolandas Paksas by a 62-11 vote with three abstentions. The vote came after a six-hour discussion of the lengthy report filed by the special commission that investigated charges against Paksas. Parliament voted to ask the Constitutional Court to rule whether the charges made against Paksas can be treated as violations of the constitution. It is expected that the court may take more than a month before presenting a conclusion, so parliament is unlikely to decide Paksas's fate before April. Arturas Paulauskas said parliament will ask the Supreme Court to nominate six judges, two of whom parliament will choose to preside over the impeachment sessions. Paksas received another blow in his fight to stay in office Thursday when a damaging report was read out in parliament detailing six "gross violations" and concluding that the accusations were backed by solid evidence. The scandal centers on Paksas's relationship to Russian businessman Yuri Borisov, his main financial sponsor in the January 2003 presidential election campaign. Paksas staunchly denies there was any deal between him and Borisov, but gave his largest campaign sponsor citizenship by special decree just after winning the presidency. His action has been ruled unlawful by the Constitutional Court. If parliament succeeds in ousting Paksas, the country must hold new elections within two and a half months.