02:29Lithuania: Surprise win for Peasants and Green Union in runoff elections
Representatives of the Lithuanian Peasants and Green Union (LPGU) celebrated their victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections from Vilnius, Monday, following the announcement that they had secured a surprise 40 percent in the runoff vote.
The party, previously represented by a single parliamentarian, now needs to form a coalition government with either the centre-right Homeland Union or centre-left Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.
Discussing the LPGU's possibilities, the leader of the party Ramunas Karbauksis said that he didn't see the difference between the conservatives [Homeland Union] and the social democrats. He underlined that their representatives "need to think if they want to join the ruling coalition," stating that while it was possible to work together, "if the question is only about political posts and election results, then probably there will be less of those possible coalition partners."
LPGU gained 56 seats in the 141-member parliament, with the Homeland Union taking 31 seats and the Social Democrats 17. LPGU were elected on account of their campaign promise to reduce the flow of Lithuanian workers from leaving to other parts of the EU, after an estimated 370,000 citizens have relocated to other EU countries since 2004.
02:29Representatives of the Lithuanian Peasants and Green Union (LPGU) celebrated their victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections from Vilnius, Monday, following the announcement that they had secured a surprise 40 percent in the runoff vote.
The party, previously represented by a single parliamentarian, now needs to form a coalition government with either the centre-right Homeland Union or centre-left Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.
Discussing the LPGU's possibilities, the leader of the party Ramunas Karbauksis said that he didn't see the difference between the conservatives [Homeland Union] and the social democrats. He underlined that their representatives "need to think if they want to join the ruling coalition," stating that while it was possible to work together, "if the question is only about political posts and election results, then probably there will be less of those possible coalition partners."
LPGU gained 56 seats in the 141-member parliament, with the Homeland Union taking 31 seats and the Social Democrats 17. LPGU were elected on account of their campaign promise to reduce the flow of Lithuanian workers from leaving to other parts of the EU, after an estimated 370,000 citizens have relocated to other EU countries since 2004.