2002?03 Lithuanian presidential election
|
|
Turnout
| 53.92% (first round)
52.65% (second round)
|
---|
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Results_of_Lithuanian_presidential_election%2C_2002-2003_%28second_round%29.png/300px-Results_of_Lithuanian_presidential_election%2C_2002-2003_%28second_round%29.png) Results (second round)
Legend:
?
Rolandas Paksas
?
Valdas Adamkus
|
|
Presidential elections
were held in
Lithuania
on 22 December 2002 and 5 January 2003. Incumbent President
Valdas Adamkus
ran for reelection alongside sixteen other candidates, the largest field of presidential candidates in the country's history. Though Adamkus held a large lead over his closest opponent,
Rolandas Paksas
of the
Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP), in the first round of the election,
[1]
Paksas defeated Adamkus in the second round with 54.71% of the vote.
[2]
The election is considered to be one of the most important presidential elections in Lithuanian history since 1990.
[3]
Paksas's victory and subsequent
impeachment
in 2004 led to the rise of the
Order and Justice
party.
Background
[
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]
Presidential powers
[
edit
]
The Lithuanian president has somewhat more executive authority than their counterparts in neighboring
Estonia
and
Latvia
; the Lithuanian president's function is similar to that of the presidents of
France
and
Romania
. Similarly to them, but unlike presidents in a fully presidential system such as
the United States
, the Lithuanian president generally has the most authority in foreign affairs. In addition to the customary diplomatic powers of Heads of State, namely receiving the
letters of credence
of foreign ambassadors and signing
treaties
, the president determines Lithuania's basic foreign policy guidelines. The president is also the
commander-in-chief
of the
Lithuanian Armed Forces
, and accordingly heads the State Defense Council and has the right to appoint the
Chief of Defence
(subject to Seimas consent).
[4]
The president also has a significant role in domestic policy, possessing the right to submit bills to the
Seimas
and to
veto
laws passed by it, appointing the
prime minister
and approving the government formed by them, and also having the right to
dissolve
the Seimas and call
snap elections
following a successful
motion of no confidence
or if the Seimas refuses to approve the government's budget within sixty days. However, the next elected Seimas may retaliate by calling for an earlier presidential election.
[5]
In addition, according to a resolution by the
Constitutional Court of Lithuania
in 1998, the president is required by law to nominate the candidate of the parliamentary majority to the office of prime minister.
[6]
The president also holds informal power, as the office of president is generally more trusted by the populace according to approval polling, and Lithuanian presidents historically blocked legislation and forced the resignation of prime ministers (such as
Gediminas Vagnorius
in 1998).
[6]
Electoral system
[
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]
The president is elected using the
two-round system
. To win in the first round, a candidate requires an absolute majority of all votes cast (including invalid votes) and either voter turnout to be above 50% or for their vote share to be equivalent to at least one-third of the number of registered voters. If no candidate wins in the first round, a second round is required, featuring the top two candidates. While some candidates belong to and/or are supported by a
political party
, the office of the president is formally non-partisan.
[7]
Citizens of Lithuania at least 40 years of age whose at least one parent was also a citizen (
natural-born-citizen clause
), who have lived in Lithuania for at least three years prior, are not serving a
prison sentence
, are not on
active duty
in the
Lithuanian Armed Forces
, are not bound to any other country by an
oath
and have never been
impeached
, are allowed to run for president. Each candidate must collect at least 20 thousand signatures by Lithuanian citizens to be able to run for election.
[8]
[9]
Previous election
[
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]
The previous election was held in
1997 and 1998
. The winner of the election was independent candidate
Valdas Adamkus
, who defeated deputy general prosecutor and independent candidate
Art?ras Paulauskas
and
Homeland Union
chairman
Vytautas Landsbergis
. The election was noted for irregularities and violent incidents - Adamkus's chief of staff Raimundas Mie?elis was beaten by hooligans prior to the first round, Paulauskas claimed that he was followed by secret service who answered to Landsbergis, and the narrow result in the second round raised allegations of
electoral fraud
.
[10]
Candidates
[
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]
20 individuals applied to be candidates in the election. Three of them,
Stanislovas Bu?kevi?ius
(
Young Lithuania
),
Kazimieras Uoka
and Vytautas Kundrotas did not provide the signatures necessary to be registered. Eight of the registered candidates were independents and nine belonged to political parties at time of registration.
[11]
Rolandas Paksas
[
edit
]
Paksas was a former national
aerobatics
champion who had at time of the election served for two times as
Prime Minister of Lithuania
, first from May to October 1999 and second time from October 2000 to June 2001. Originally leading a
Homeland Union
cabinet in 1999, Paksas resigned in protest to the sale of the
Ma?eikiai oil refinery
to the American
Williams Companies
- though he was forced to leave the party, his popularity soared and he was later appointed as an advisor on energy policy to the President.
[12]
Paksas then joined the
Liberal Union
, a small
classical liberal
party which was connected to the fraudulent
EBSW
business conglomerate.
[13]
Under his leadership, the party grew from 1 to 34 seats in the
2000 Lithuanian parliamentary election
. Encouraged by Adamkus,
[14]
the Liberals formed a "New Politics" coalition (Lithuanian:
"Naujosios politikos" koalicija
) with the
New Union (Social Liberals)
, with
supply and confidence
from the
Peasants and New Democratic Party Union
, forming
Paksas Cabinet II
. It was the first cabinet in Lithuania's history since 1990 which had neither the
Homeland Union
or the
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania
in its composition.
It was a
minority government
and collapsed on 18 June 2001, when all New Union ministers withdrew from the government and the party announced its intention to form a government with the
Social Democratic Party
. A few months later, he resigned as chairman of the Liberal Union after criticism from the party's council.
[12]
Paksas and his loyalists subsequently left the party and established the
Liberal Democratic Party
.
[15]
Paksas ran as the party's presidential candidate.
Valdas Adamkus
[
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]
Adamkus, a former official of the
Environmental Protection Agency
and a member of the
Lithuanian diaspora
during the
Cold War
, was elected President in 1998. During his term, Lithuania progressed in its goal to join the
European Union
and
NATO
, but internal politics were fragile. After the collapse of the cabinet of
Gediminas Vagnorius
due to his conflict with the president, Adamkus promoted Paksas as a protege.
[16]
Adamkus also encourage the formation of the short-lived "New Politics" coalition.
[14]
Art?ras Paulauskas
[
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]
Paulauskas was Adamkus's opponent in the 1998 presidential election and afterwards founded the
New Union (Social Liberals)
, which won the second largest number of seats in the 2000 parliamentary election and formed the "New Politics" coalition with Paksas's Liberal Union.
[17]
Paulauskas was elected as the
Speaker of the Seimas
and was endorsed as the coalition's candidate in the country's next presidential election - however, the deal was rescinded after the collapse of the coalition and Paksas's decision to run for the election himself.
[18]
Before the election, Paulauskas voiced his hesitation to participate, as the chaotic nature of the newly elected parliament, which he served as the Speaker of, caused a downfall of his approval ratings.
[19]
In spite of this, he, alongside chairman of the Social Democratic Party
Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas
, was seen as the most realistic opponent to Adamkus before the election.
[20]
Despite his party being in a coalition with the
Social Democrats
, they did not endorse Paulauskas and instead ran
Vytenis Andriukaitis
as a candidate. He was backed by the party's local organizations from the left flank as a symbol that the party was not entirely taken over by the
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania
since their merger in 2001.
[21]
Vytautas ?er?nas
[
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]
?er?nas was the host of the
political satire
TV show "Bicycle News" (Lithuanian:
"Dvira?io ?inios"
) and ran as a satirical political candidate. Among his promises on the election trail was the construction of a bridge between
Klaip?da
and
Stockholm
, a "faster" tram line between Klaip?da and
Vilnius
, and a mandatory purchase of a portion of
cepelinai
by every citizen.
[22]
In spite of this, some claimed that his campaign was more measured and understanding of presidential powers than of some other candidates.
[23]
Ar?nas Valinskas
, who later founded the
National Resurrection Party
, claimed that he convinced ?er?nas to run in order to reveal the absurdity of the election.
[24]
Other candidates
[
edit
]
Several candidates represented various political parties.
Vytenis Andriukaitis
represented the
Social Democratic Party
,
Kazimira Prunskien?
ran as the candidate of the
Peasants and New Democratic Party Union
, and
Eugenijus Gentvilas
ran as the candidate of the
Liberal Union
.
Juozas Edvardas Petraitis, an
Australian
-Lithuanian businessman, ran as an independent candidate and was the wealthiest candidate in the race, with a declared total wealth of 145 million
litas
.
[22]
The election was contested by two brothers - Algimantas Matulevi?ius and
Vytautas Matulevi?ius
, both of whom ran as independents.
[22]
Campaign
[
edit
]
Prior to the election,
Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas
, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party who returned to politics in 2001, was seen as the most realistic challenger to Adamkus. As Brazauskas did not run, and Adamkus enjoyed high approval ratings at the beginning of the race, he conducted a passive campaign.
[25]
The Adamkus campaign was run by
Art?ras Zuokas
,
Darius Kuolys
and
Albinas Janu?ka
. According to correspondent Audrius Ba?iulis, the campaign was ineffective and its leading personalities lacked cooperation, whereas the president and his staff were certain that victory was inevitable:
Long before these elections, they were certain -
George W. Bush
will fly over, wave his hand from the steps of the
Town Hall
, Lithuania is invited to NATO, and the elections are in the pocket.
[16]
?
Audrius Ba?iulis
According to a 2001 summer poll by the polling agency
Baltijos tyrimai
, 3.4% of the respondents stated that they would vote for Paksas in the presidential election, and according to a
Vilmorus
poll at the same period, only 33.9% of the respondents viewed him positively.
[3]
Paksas formed a team led by journalist Aurelijus Katkevi?ius, described as "Paksas's political sculptor".
[26]
Katkevi?ius's strategy was to establish Paksas as a
strongman
who would restore law and order against the more passive Adamkus - on the campaign trail, Paksas became known for radical promises such as restoring the
death sentence
, strictly controlling the actions of the
Government of Lithuania
, the country's spending and the size of pensions, and ordering police to patrol schools with
detection dogs
.
[3]
To bypass the media, which he believed to be hostile to him, Paksas visited voters directly, often traveling via
helicopter
, which earned him the nickname "Flying Rolandas".
[3]
The helicopter was loaned to Paksas by Russian businessman and owner of the aviation company Aviabaltika Yuri Borisov. Borisov also donated 1.2 million
litas
($400,000) to Paksas's election campaign.
[27]
Paksas also organized
aviation stunts
, the most famous of which was his flight under the bridge over the
Neris
river on 3 October 2002.
[28]
Paksas's success in the election has been attributed to the organized structure of his campaign and its professionalism, which was unprecedented in Lithuanian politics at the time, as well as his campaign's large financial resources, which, during his
impeachment
proceedings, were counted to have been 18 to 19 million litas.
[3]
Results
[
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]
Candidate
| Party
| First round
| Second round
|
---|
Votes
| %
| Votes
| %
|
---|
| Valdas Adamkus
| Independent
| 514,154
| 35.53
| 643,870
| 45.29
|
| Rolandas Paksas
| Liberal Democratic Party
| 284,559
| 19.66
| 777,769
| 54.71
|
| Art?ras Paulauskas
| New Union (Social Liberals)
| 120,238
| 8.31
| |
| Vytautas ?er?nas
| Independent
| 112,215
| 7.75
| |
| Vytenis Andriukaitis
| Social Democratic Party
| 105,584
| 7.30
| |
| Kazimira Prunskien?
| Peasants and New Democratic Party Union
| 72,925
| 5.04
| |
| Juozas Edvardas Petraitis
| Independent
| 54,139
| 3.74
| |
| Eugenijus Gentvilas
| Liberal Union
| 44,562
| 3.08
| |
| Julius Veselka
| Lithuanian People's Union
| 32,293
| 2.23
| |
| Algimantas Matulevi?ius
| Independent
| 32,137
| 2.22
| |
| Kazys Bobelis
| Lithuanian Christian Democrats
| 27,613
| 1.91
| |
| Vytautas Matulevi?ius
| Independent
| 26,888
| 1.86
| |
| K?stutis Glaveckas
| Lithuanian Centre Union
| 7,554
| 0.52
| |
| Vytautas ?ustauskas
| Lithuanian Liberty Union
| 5,372
| 0.37
| |
| Vytautas Bernatonis
| Independent
| 3,546
| 0.25
| |
| Algirdas Pilvelis
| Independent
| 2,074
| 0.14
| |
| Rimantas Jonas Dagys
| Social Democracy 2000
| 1,264
| 0.09
| |
Total
| 1,447,117
| 100.00
| 1,421,639
| 100.00
|
|
Valid votes
| 1,447,117
| 98.68
| 1,421,639
| 98.98
|
---|
Invalid/blank votes
| 19,419
| 1.32
| 14,683
| 1.02
|
---|
Total votes
| 1,466,536
| 100.00
| 1,436,322
| 100.00
|
---|
Registered voters/turnout
| 2,719,608
| 53.92
| 2,727,805
| 52.65
|
---|
Source:
Central Election Commission
,
Central Election Commission
|
References
[
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]
- ^
Republic of Lithuania: Election for President
IFES Election Guide
- ^
Republic of Lithuania: Election for President
IFES Election Guide
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Bak?nait?, Gintar? (22 February 2019).
"Rinkimai, pakeit? Lietuvos istorij?: kaip Paksas ??m? apa?ias"
"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
Presidential Functions | President of the Republic of Lithuania
- ^
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania ? Seimas site
- ^
a
b
Jastramskis, Ma?vydas (3 April 2024).
"K? gali Lietuvos prezidentas?"
.
Prezidentogalios.lt
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
"Lithuania: Election for President"
.
IFES Election Guide
.
- ^
"Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas"
.
Visuotin? lietuvi? enciklopedija
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
Andrukaityt?, Milena (7 March 2024).
"VRK patvirtino, kad ?imonyt? surinko para?us prezidento rinkimams"
.
LRT
(in Lithuanian)
. Retrieved
27 March
2024
.
- ^
P?ken?, R?ta (18 May 2019).
"Prezidento rinkimai. Tai buvo kova be taisykli?: sumu?tas ?tabo vadovas, pasik?sinimas ir s?vartyne rasti balsai"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
"Pretendentai b?ti kandidatais ? Respublikos Prezidentus"
.
Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania
(in Lithuanian). 2002.
- ^
a
b
Tvaskien?, Jurga (6 February 2018).
"??ird?i? premjero" skrydis ? prezidento post?: nesisteminiu politiku vadintas Paksas dav? ateities pamok?"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
Igorius, Algirdas (10 June 2018).
"Liberal? partijos ?k?r?jas: verslo grup?s liberalus u?vald? dar 1995 m."
LRT
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
a
b
"Prezidentas renkasi nauj?j? politik?"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian). 10 October 2000.
- ^
"R.Pakso bendra?ygiai kurs Liberal? demokrat? partij?"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian). 21 January 2002.
- ^
a
b
P?ken?, R?ta (4 May 2019).
"Prezidento rinkimai. Pirmuosius Pakso politinius ?ingsnius mat? i? labai arti: jie jo visi?kai ne?vertino"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
"Naujoji s?junga"
.
Visuotin? lietuvi? enciklopedija
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
P?ken?, R?ta (4 May 2019).
"Prezidento rinkimai. Pirmuosius Pakso politinius ?ingsnius mat? i? labai arti: jie jo visi?kai ne?vertino"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian).
Nors 2001 met? baland? R. Paksas partijos nariams parei?k?, kad, kol bus premjeru, ? prezidentus nekandidatuos, ir par?m? Art?r? Paulausk?, situacija netruko pasikeisti. T? pa?i? met? bir?el? valdan?ioji koalicija ?lugo ir 6 socialdemokrat? ministrai i??jo i? Vyriausyb?s. R. Paksas v?l paskelb? atsistatydinantis, po keli? m?nesi? pasitrauk? i? LSS pirmininko posto, dar v?liau ? ir i? opozicin?s Liberal? frakcijos Seime.
- ^
"A.Paulauskas prarand? nor? b?ti prezidentu"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian). 22 May 2001.
- ^
P?ken?, R?ta (4 May 2019).
"Prezidento rinkimai. Pirmuosius Pakso politinius ?ingsnius mat? i? labai arti: jie jo visi?kai ne?vertino"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian).
Art?jan?iuose prezidento rinkimuose kaip bene rim?iausi V. Adamkaus ?p?diniai ?vardyti Algirdas Brazauskas ir Art?ras Paulauskas. 2001 m. A. Brazauskas gr??o ? politik? ir i? karto buvo i?rinktas Lietuvos socialdemokrat? partijos pirmininku, po pusme?io Seimas j? patvirtino Vyriausyb?s vadovu. Savo ruo?tu A. Paulauskas 1997 m. prezidento rinkimuose nuo V. Adamkaus atsiliko tik 0,8 proc. bals?.
- ^
Krupavicius, Algis (December 2003). "Lithuania".
European Journal of Political Research
.
42
(7?8): 1010?20.
doi
:
10.1111/j.0304-4130.2003.00128.x
.
- ^
a
b
c
Vaitel?, Tomas (11 May 2024).
"Nuo sostin?s Visagine iki cepelin? vietoj viz?: kaip ?er?nas 2002 metais rinkim? ?ou k?r?"
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
Makaraityt?, Indr? (27 November 2002).
"V.?er?nas ? realyb?s atspindys?"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
Tubys, Lukrecijus (12 May 2019).
"V. ?er?nui ?alies vadovu tapti si?l?s A. Valinskas ?vardijo jo tur?t? prana?um? net prie? dabartinius kandidatus"
.
Lietuvos rytas
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
P?ken?, R?ta (4 May 2019).
"Prezidento rinkimai. Pirmuosius Pakso politinius ?ingsnius mat? i? labai arti: jie jo visi?kai ne?vertino"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian).
Pabandykime ? tai pa?velgti i? V. Adamkaus perspektyvos. Apklausos rod?, kad visuomen?s pasitik?jimas juo siek? 80 proc., 2002 m. V. Adamkus buvo i?rinktas met? ?mogumi. Prezidentas palankiai vertintas d?l Lietuvai atsiv?rusi? galimybi? tapti ES ir NATO nare, jo reputacijai nekenk? ?tarimai korupcija ar ry?iais su Rusija. Grei?iausiai nereik?t? steb?tis, kod?l esant tokiai situacijai ? auk?ti reitingai, pagrindinio konkurento atsitraukimas ? V. Adamkus nusprend? nesiimti agresyvios rinkimin?s kampanijos.
- ^
Gudavi?ius, Stasys (30 March 2004).
"Prezidento komanda tirpsta"
.
Kauno diena
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
Vireli?nait?, Lauryna (30 October 2013).
"De?imt met? nuo Paksogeito prad?ios: skandalas, kuris ilgam pasodino Roland? Paks? ant atsargini? suolo"
.
15min.lt
(in Lithuanian).
- ^
"R.Paksas - rekordinio skryd?io po tiltu dalyvis (video)"
.
Delfi
(in Lithuanian). 3 October 2002.
External links
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]