A party of political outsiders fronted by a former police chief pulled off a stunning election victory in Lithuania yesterday on the back of promises to deliver much-needed economic growth to curb a labour exodus.
After the weekend run-off vote, which followed a first round on October 9, the centrist Lithuanian Peasants and Green Union party (LPGU) ended up with 54 seats in the 141-member parliament.
It previously had just one seat.
“Iron Lady” President Dalia Grybauskaite said yesterday that the election result “confirmed that people want major changes”.
“New faces replaced political old-timers in many constituencies – this means changes on Lithuania’s political map,” she added.
The conservative Homeland Union, which had been tipped to win, came a distant second with 31 seats, while the governing Social Democrats were, as expected, relegated to the opposition, with just 17 seats.
Grybauskaite formally invited the LPGU to “form a transparent and responsible majority” government after holding exploratory coalition talks with other party leaders.
She said it was “crucial to restore ruined confidence in the parliament and government”.
The LPGU has said it is open to talks with all parties.
“In every election, new political personalities attract disillusioned voters. The LPGU knew how to attract more of them,” Ramunas Vilpisauskas, director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius, told AFP.
“Some of their ideas are very mainstream, but others are closer to those we see in Poland,” he added, referring to the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party which has taken the controversial path of economic nationalism and reforms that the EU has warned undermine democracy.
Vilnius University political scientist Aine Ramonaite was cautious about likening the LPGU to other populist or right-wing parties that have surged elsewhere in Europe.
“There are certain parallels with countries, like for instance Greece, but we cannot call the LPGU a populist party,” she told AFP, adding that it is not anti-migrant.
She said that it drew broad support thanks to its drive for a strong state that could curb mass emigration.
“What has surprised us this time is the very large scale of the switch,” she added.
Popular in the countryside, the LPGU’s official leader is Ramunas Karbauskis, an industrial farming tycoon and land owner.
But Saulius Skvernelis, a former national police chief popular for battling corruption, ran as its “new face” for prime minister.
The 46-year-old launched his political career just two years ago when he swapped his police uniform for a suit and the office of the interior minister.
His squeaky-clean image turned him into Lithuania’s hottest political commodity virtually overnight.
The LPGU wants to change a controversial new labour code that makes it easier to hire and fire employees, impose a state monopoly on alcohol sales, cut bureaucracy – and above all, boost economic growth to halt mass emigration.
Karbauskis has also raised the prospect of a “grand coalition” of all parties in parliament to create a technocratic government focused on economic growth and boosting incomes.
Wage growth and job creation were key election issues in the country of 2.9mn people that has been plagued by an exodus of workers seeking higher wages abroad.
Over the last 15 years, the Baltic state’s population has fallen by 600,000 people as young people seek better opportunities in western Europe.
Sunday’s result dealt a heavy blow to Homeland Union leader Gabrielius Landsbergis, who was tipped as the next prime minister after his party finished narrowly ahead of the LPGU in round one of voting.
Promises by current Social Democratic Prime Minister Butkevicius of a further hike in the minimum wage and public sector salaries failed to attract voters.
Lithuania’s average wage of €600 ($670) per month after tax remains one of the lowest in the EU, and inequality and poverty remain comparatively high.