Vitaly Portnikov. The end of two-party Lithuania

The end of two-party Lithuania
Vitaly Portnikov

Date of publication: September 28, 2000

The parliamentary elections that will be held in the Republic of Lithuania on the first weekend of October will most likely not only change the balance of power on the political scene of this country, but also put an end to the bipartisanship that triumphed in Lithuania during the years of restoration of independence. As you know, a decade ago, the Sąjūdis movement led by Vytautas Landsbergis and the independent Communist Party of Lithuania, soon renamed the Democratic Party of Labor, fought for the sympathies of voters. The society, which sought to restore the state independence of the Lithuanian state, of course, supported Sąjūdis, although it was disappointed that not the charismatic Brazauskas, but the corrosive Landsbergis was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of Lithuania... However, the first elections to the Seimas of independent Lithuania brought yesterday The winners were seriously disappointed: the party of the first president of the restored state, Brazauskas, was able to form a one-party government and no longer pay attention to the right. The conservatives, led by Landsbergis, only recovered in the next elections, receiving an overwhelming majority of votes in the Sejm. In addition, the center-left candidate Arturas Paulauskas, supported by Brazauskas, failed to win the presidential election against the American Lithuanian Valdas Adamkus...

Now - new elections. Long before they were held, they began to talk about the obvious defeat of the conservatives, led by the current chairman of the Sejm, Vytautas Landsbergis. However, unlike all previous elections, they will not be replaced by a parliamentary majority of the DPTL. According to the latest opinion polls, the most popular party in Lithuania is the New Union of Arturas Paulauskas. The Social Democratic coalition, whose core is the DPTL and whose leader is former President Algirdas Brazauskas, is in second place. Following these parties is the Liberal Union of former Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas. And only after the liberals are Landsbergis' conservatives and centrists.

Polls call Arturas Paulauskas the most popular politician in Lithuania today. The former Prosecutor General of the country, who agreed with this appointment during the period of the struggle for independence (when the Prosecutor's Office of the Lithuanian SSR continued to operate in parallel with the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Lithuania), Paulauskas managed to establish himself as a talented and charming politician who knew how to respond with dignity to the criticism of his opponents. When Vytautas Landsbergis, concerned about the growing popularity of the New Union, accused Paulauskas and his party of being supporters of an alliance with Moscow and slowing down Lithuania's integration into Western structures, the leader of the New Union did not get involved in fruitless controversy, but... paid a visit to Brussels, where he met with NATO Secretary General George Robertson and other leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance. During these meetings, Paulauskas spoke about Lithuania's desire to join NATO. Upon his return to Vilnius, Paulauskas expressed confidence that Lithuania would receive an invitation to join NATO during the Alliance's 2002 summit. Arturas Paulauskas assessed his meetings in Brussels at a press conference specially convened in the Lithuanian capital as “very friendly.”

So Landsbergis's criticism ended up earning Paulauskas extra points. In addition, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, who consistently defends his right to be an arbiter in disputes and quarrels among politicians, accused the conservatives of a “deficit of national self-respect.” On September 11, Adamkus invited Landsbergis, Paulauskas, Brazauskas and Paksas to his place to ask them not to use foreign policy topics in domestic politics.

Opposition leaders continue to insist that Landsbergis's statements about the possibility of changing the foreign policy course as a result of their victory are without any basis and are pre-election demagoguery. Algirdas Brazauskas made a special statement on Lithuanian Radio, emphasizing that there are no alternatives to Lithuania's accession to NATO and the EU. Rolandas Paksas said that he would “repeat” the Brussels voyage of Arturas Paulauskas, but after the parliamentary elections.

Landsbergis's statements have so far had the opposite effect. columnist Veidas Kestusis Petrauskas noted that the Sejm Speaker's predictions about the possible formation of a “pro-Moscow” government by the opposition could indeed arouse Western wariness and slow down Lithuania's integration into NATO and the EU. Petrauskas recalled that eight years ago, after the DPTL’s victory in the parliamentary elections, Landsbergis’s supporters and the defeated former chairman of the Supreme Council himself spoke about the return to power of pro-Russian-oriented “communists.” However, it was during the DPTL period that Lithuania announced its desire to join the Alliance - despite the irritation of the Kremlin. So the Lithuanians have no need to fear a turn to the East. But the left has traditionally succeeded much better in normalizing relations with Russia than the right...

Lithuanians are not afraid. For the first time in years, they seem to have real choice. This is no longer the confrontation between Landsbergis and Brazauskas, which exhausted the political life of Lithuania. The appearance of Paulauskas, Paksas and their parties among the favorites in the election race at least promises the possibility of forming a coalition government and the impossibility of monopolizing the political life of society. The 2000 elections in Lithuania are a rare case when it is not the right and the left who win, but the voter.