LITHUANIA: LITHUANIANS GO TO POLLS IN REFERENDUM INITIATED BY OPPOSITION CONSERVATIVE PARTY ON CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSED PRIVATIZATION LAW

Record ID: 646385

  • Title: LITHUANIA: LITHUANIANS GO TO POLLS IN REFERENDUM INITIATED BY OPPOSITION CONSERVATIVE PARTY ON CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSED PRIVATIZATION LAW
  • Date: 26th August 1994
  • Summary: VILNIUS, LITHUANIA (AUGUST 26 AND 27, 1994) (AUGUST 26) 1. GV PAN VILNIUS AND SURROUNDINGS 0.13 2. GV VILNIUS STREET SCENES, POSTERS ON A WALL 0.18 3. GV WOMAN IN WHEELCHAIR SAYING THE NEW LAW IS UNLIKELY TO CHANGE ANYTHING EVEN IF PASSED (RUSSIAN) 0.24 4. GV TWO GIRLS SAYING THEY WILL NOT VOTE (LITHUANIAN) 0.30 5. SCU MAN SAYING THE LAW WILL HELP THE POOR (LITHUANIAN) 0.34 6. GV EXTERIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICES (2 SHOTS) 0.40 7. SCU LITHUANIAN PRIME MINISTER ADOLF SLEZHIAVICHUS SPEAKING (ENGLISH) 0.55 (AUGUST 27) 8. CU REFERENDUM SIGN 0.58 9. GV INTERIOR PEOPLE VOTING (4 SHOTS) 1.20 10. GV OPPOSITION CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER VYTAUTAS LANDSBERGIS CASTING HIS BALLOT (3 SHOTS) 1.38 SEQUENCE 7 TRANSCRIPT: SLEZHIAVICHUS :"I HOPE THAT POLITICAL LITHUANIAN PEOPLE SHOW POLITICAL UNDERSTANDING AND THEY VOTE AGAINST THIS LAW" Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 10th September 1994 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: VILNIUS, LITHUANIA
  • City:
  • Country: EUROPE Lithuania
  • Reuters ID: LVA84Y5NKQAQ8MPUDKJG62NVM5YY
  • Story Text: Lithuanians went to the polls on Saturday (August 27) in a referendum initiated by the opposition Conservative party on a controversial proposed privatization law.

    The proposed new law is designed to "rectify" the damage allegedly caused by the current privatization programme and to compensate Lithuanians for savings lost as a result of high inflation.

    The nationwide referendum was called after Conservative leader Vytautas Landsbergis, the former first president of independent Lithuania, collected the requisite number of signatures for his party's petition.

    Lithuania's ruling Democratic Party and its leader Algirdas Brazauskas sharply criticized the proposed legislation.

    In recent television appearances Brazauskas has drawn attention to clauses of the proposed law which he alleges have nothing to do with privatization and are aimed to overthrow the government.

    One of the questions in the referendum concerns early parliamentary and presidential elections which, it says, will be called if 35 percent of the electorate vote for it.

    Brasauskas has said that this contradicts the Lithuanian constitution, and refused to take part in the referendum.


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