Vitaly Portnikov. Winners: Rolandas Paksas

Winners: Rolandas Paksas
Vitaly Portnikov

Date of publication: October 31, 2000

The new Prime Minister of Lithuania is perhaps one of the most unusual politicians in the post-Soviet space. First of all, because he owes his political career... to the biography of a test pilot. In Lithuania, aviation sports are generally held in special esteem. Even on one of the banknotes you can see images of two heroic Lithuanian pilots who died during an attempted transatlantic flight... Therefore, it is not surprising that a year before the 1996 parliamentary elections - elections that promised to be a triumph for the Conservative Party - Rolandas Paksas's comrade school, Gediminas Vagnorius, who repeatedly headed conservative governments, invited the popular pilot to run for parliament. True, at that time Paksas was no longer flying (although he still takes the helm to this day; already in 1997, as Prime Minister of Lithuania, he performed acrobatic performances on Vilnius Day). But he was a builder - which helped him find his place as mayor of Vilnius. The Lithuanian capital began to change before the eyes of its amazed residents and visitors from all over Lithuania, and Paksas entered the top ten most popular Lithuanian politicians. True, the detractors of the new prime minister claim that without government subsidies and the help of his classmate, Prime Minister Gediminas Vagnorius, Paksas would not have succeeded. But nevertheless, the proof of its capabilities was obvious - it became pleasant to live in the city, it began to clearly acquire European features...

Meanwhile, clouds began to gather over the Vagnorius government: the consequences of the Russian economic crisis of 1998 seriously affected the Lithuanian economy, which was oriented towards the eastern market. The cabinet of his faithful ally Vytautas Landsbergis turned out to be the most unpopular government in Lithuania: up to 60% of participants in opinion polls were in favor of his resignation. In this situation, President Valdas Adamkus demanded the resignation of the government. But the new prime minister also had to be chosen from among the conservatives who had a majority in parliament. The president strongly supported Paksas, who turned out to be the only popular conservative politician. The conservatives agreed, reluctantly: in their own party, Paksas immediately became enemy number one, since he alone managed to maintain the favor of voters and stay away from the internal party squabbles that made Landsbergis and Vagnorius irreconcilable enemies...

However, Rolandas Paksas did not serve as Prime Minister of Lithuania for long. His resignation is connected with the transfer of the Mazeikiai oil refinery to the American concern Williams. This agreement, lobbied by both the former American citizen President Adamkus and the Speaker of the Sejm Landsbergis, caused serious irritation to the Russian company Lukoil and deteriorated Russian-Lithuanian relations for a long time. Paksas argued that the deal was primarily unprofitable for the Lithuanian economy, but he was not listened to. However, the prime minister's opponents claim that he simply could not cope with the economic crisis in Lithuania and resigned, fearing responsibility. Even if this is so, we must admit: Paxas made a brilliant move! His popularity jumped from 65 to 85%, he became the only Lithuanian politician more popular than President Adamkus, returned to the post of mayor of Vilnius and parted ways with the conservatives. The super-popular ex-prime minister had many proposals from various political forces, but he chose the “Union of Liberals” - a party created mainly by young specialists who received Western education, not very popular, but quite decent. Within a year, from an outsider party, the Liberals became the second party in Lithuania, leaving behind only the Social Democrats of the always popular ex-President Algirdas Brazauskas in the parliamentary elections...

Interestingly, because of his protests against the deal with Williams, Paksas fell out with Landsbergis, but remained close to President Adamkus. On the eve of the parliamentary elections, the president publicly announced that he supported new political forces - Paksas's liberals and the "New Union" of former Prosecutor General Paulauskas. So, perhaps, we should not have been surprised when, after the parliamentary elections in Lithuania, contrary to the expectations of the victorious (but not completely) Social Democrats, the president immediately met with Paulauskas and Paksas, who declared their readiness to take power and form a coalition government. Paksas comes to the new cabinet with his team: the same ministers who worked with him in the first five months of his premiership...

All this is an outline of a rapid career, the career of a real winner. But observers are not sure that Rolandas Paksas will be able to remain in the prime minister’s chair for a long time this time too. The thing is that ideologically the New Union and the liberals are very different parties. The first is a populist left-socialist organization, close in views to Brazauskas’s Social Democrats. The second is a Western liberal party, focused on building a European-style market economy. So we can expect serious conflicts over the very first fundamental decisions of the new cabinet, especially since the liberals got the economic bloc in it, and the New Union got the social bloc. In addition, both Paksas and Paulauskas are planning to run for the post of President of Lithuania, and the Chairman of the Seimas Paulauskas does not need the popular Prime Minister Paksas at all: Prime Minister Brazauskas is much more convenient, who will definitely not run for the post of head of state... Unless the current coalition survives. But in this case, Brazauskas can put forward his candidacy as if out of spite - well, for the sake of saving Lithuania - and neither Paulauskas nor Paksas will see the presidency! In short, the real conflicts in the career of the new Lithuanian prime minister are yet to come: it’s worth remembering the acrobatic turns on an airplane!