- Title: LITHUANIA: Prime Minister Kubilius bullish as Lithuanians vote
- Date: 28th October 2012
- Summary: VILNIUS, LITHUANIA (OCTOBER 28, 2012) (REUTERS) ( * BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) LITHUANIAN FLAG EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE POSTERS ON POLLING STATION WALL POSTER FOR LEADER OF HOMELAND UNION-LITHUANIAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS PARTY AND LITHUANIAN PRIME MINISTER, ANDRIUS KUBILIUS
- Embargoed: 12th November 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lithuania
- Country: Lithuania
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA2LK6NJ7Q2FYXJMZWHJTD8SSXS
- Story Text: Lithuanian voters tell Reuters the economy is their top priority as the country's prime minister expresses confidence about his party's chances during parliamentary elections.
Lithuania's current prime minister and the leader of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats party coalition in the current government on Sunday (October 28) said he was bullish about his party's chances of success in the second round of the country's parliamentary elections.
Speaking as he and his wife went to vote at a polling station in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Andrius Kubilius said he was confident of coming out of the vote successfully.
"[The] second round of the vote can give the result that my party, conservative party can be among the leading parties in the parliament. We have the biggest numbers of constituencies in the second round where we are leading, so that can give really positive result for us," he said, adding that the outcome should produce be an even distribution of seats.
"But at the end I would expect that three major parties -- labour party, social democrats and us, we shall have very equal numbers in the next parliament," Vilnius told Reuters television.
Economists said the Baltic nation's high borrowing needs mean a coalition likely to be formed by the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party will have little room for manoeuvre as it strives for euro membership in the next few years.
Asked about what a future coalition might look like in the next government, Kubilius said the most important thing was stamping out corruption.
"Well, we definitely will not be in some coalitions which we call not clean coalitions, and especially after the first round where quite a lot of dirty tricks were played by some parties during the election day," he said.
"We are in a very clear situation where we are refusing to consider any coalitions with such not clean parties. But all other options are available and from my experience I can guess that negotiations for the forming of coalitions will be quite long," he added.
The parties have said they can ease hardship while being fiscally responsible.
They have backed a higher minimum wage, a cut in some value-added tax rates and more investment, which they say will stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment.
The former Soviet republic is one of the European Union's poorest countries and has joblessness of 13 percent. The population has fallen below 3 million for the first time since the Soviet Union's collapse as thousands left to find work.
Lithuanians voting at the same polling station seemed to largely agree that the most important factor in the election was indeed the economy.
"I expect good changes. That the attitude to the economy will change, that laws that will be passed will be of good quality -- unlike now -- that there will not be useless arguing. That there will be more attention paid to economy, and to people," said Antanas Damasickas, a local resident.
Marija Kasparaitiene, another local resident, said though that the strength of the economy was not purely based on economics.
"Of course the most important issue is the country's economy, and its foreign policy. Of course 'economy' also mean the well-being of people. So we hope that in the future we will live better," she said.
Not all agreed however -- some appearing optimistic about the current provisions made by the government.
"I think everything that was needed to be done is already done. The highest priority solutions were adopted, and now we need to resolve the budget. We should continue on the path of austerity so that later we can start to live normally," said Zana Kovsova as she left the polling station.
Kubilius, who says cuts to the budget deficit saved Lithuania from bankruptcy, came third in the first round and has only a slim chance of remaining in government.
Lithuania's election could be a taste of things to come for other European governments facing voters angry at budget cuts.
The Social Democrats, led by former finance minister Algirdas Butkevicius, a prospective prime minister, want progressive income taxes to replace flat taxes.
He and Labour, led by Russian-born businessman Victor Uspaskich, will likely need a partner to form a majority, expected to be the party of an impeached ex-president. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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