Voters deal major blow to Lithuania's leftist government in weekend ballot
VILNIUS, Lithuania
Voters dealt a major blow to Lithuania's leftist government by boosting the conservative opposition as well as some populist leaders - including an impeached ex-president - in weekend elections, according to official results released Monday.
The results set the stage for coalition talks among center-right parties in the former Soviet Baltic nation.
Homeland Union leader Andrius Kubilius said he was ready to form a new Cabinet after his party won the most votes in Sunday's first round, receiving 19.2 percent, according to results after almost all precincts were counted.
"I see a good chance to form a coalition," Kubilius said Monday. He did not give details of which parties might be involved, but allies include two other center-right parties - the Liberal Center Union and the Liberal Movement - which each narrowly cleared the 5 percent barrier to enter Parliament.
Likely to be left out is the governing Social Democratic Party, which has controlled the prime minister's office since 2001. The party finished fourth in Sunday's race with 11.7 percent.
The results released Monday were only for the party list vote, meaning the final outcome could shift, though not drastically. All of Parliament's 141 seats were up for grabs, but only three candidates received the minimum 50 percent required to win a seat outright in single-mandate districts.
Sixty-eight were to be decided by an Oct. 26 runoff, while 70 seats would be filled according to party lists. Conservative candidates are involved in 43 runoffs, 28 of which they are leading, the Central Election Committee said.
Coalition talks could also be complicated by the resurgence of two disgraced populist leaders, as well as the surprisingly strong showing by the National Revival Party, a centrist upstart formed by TV and pop music personalities that placed second with 15.1 percent of Sunday's vote.
The Order and Justice party, led by Rolandas Paksas, a former president impeached four years ago for violating the constitution, received 12.7 percent of the vote, while ally Viktor Uspaskich's Labor Party mustered 9 percent.
Uspaskich returned in May from his native Russia, to which he had fled in 2006 as Lithuania began investigating him in a conflict of interest case. He is barred from leaving Lithuania until the investigation is resolved.
Paksas, a stunt pilot, said Monday he did not think his party would take part in a coalition with conservatives. "It is very likely we will remain in the opposition," Paksas said.
