VILNIUS - Many had hoped that President Valdas Adam-kus' televised address on Nov. 17 would end the ongoing controversy and speculation surrounding Prime Minister Algir-das Brazauskas' family business. Although the speech failed to become a turning point, for many it did relieve some of the pent-up frustration at the country's latest debilitating scandal.
The president said that law enforcement institutions must get to the bottom of all allegations involving the Brazauskas family's business deals. The country, he explained, would be better served if the probe were carried out by law enforcement rather than politicians.
"To me, state stability represents the continuity of an important task and the successful implementation of essential reforms. [Stability] isn't some particular individual being in power," the president said.
The president spoke to the nation after having met with leading politicians, including Braz-auskas himself and his principal accusers, the opposition Conser-vatives (Homeland Union).
The next day after the president's speech, prosecutors started pretrial investigation into the privatization of Draugyste Hotel, which is primarily owned by the prime minister's wife and son. Prosecutors are expected to conclude if any official positions were abused while privatizing the hotel, which is now the Crowne Plaza.
Both supporters and critics of the prime minister appeared satisfied by the president's speech. The opposition was happy to hear Adamkus stress that "one can't sacrifice democratic principals for political stability."
The Social Democrats, whom Brazauskas leads, found solace in the fact that the president supported the prime minister's view that law enforcement institutions should investigate his family business, not a parliamentary commission.
The standoff culminated this month in a commission that was set up to inquire about the deals being quashed by pro-Brazauskas parliamentarians.
At the same time, the president urged the prime minister to answer all the questions currently troubling society.
"It's clear that this is [the president's] compromise. Having expressed his attitude about the priority of democracy and civil society, he suggested a way out, which isn't grounded on principals but rather their substitution," said political analyst Antanas Kulakauskas. "After all, law enforcement institutions can't, and don't, investigate questions of political morality."
Others said the decision was anticlimactic. Conservative leader Andrius Kubilius said he knew what the answer would be. "I believe that we can see the answer already today. And the answer will be such that law enforcement institutions don't see any possibility to take the matter to court or to question the actions' legal aspects. Part of the explanation will be related to statute of limitations," he said.
Meanwhile, Brazauskas once again repeated he was 'clean' and expressed readiness to answer all questions live on television.
However, when asked on radio if, in 1995, he had requested that Prime Minister Adolfas Slezevicius appoint Kristina Butrimiene, who later married Brazauskas, as director of the Draugyste hotel, Brazauskas claimed he couldn't remember.
"I can't remember," he told Lietuvos Radijas. "She has always worked for Sesupe [a restaurant in Vilnius], but left the job in 1994. And the whole privatization started two or three years later," he said.
"Not only she, but also I am being muddled in the matter where there's absolutely no connection. Brazauskas hasn't been involved in business for 15 years. His wife is involved in business. There are no secrets here," the prime minister said.
Although Brazauskas strongly denies having any ties with Draugyste's privatization, MP Julius Veselka previously said that he had received personal instructions regarding the privatization of Draugyste from then-President Brazauskas.
The Veselka is a former economy minister who worked in the cabinet from 1992 to 1994. The privatization of Draugyste started in 1994 and was finished in 2000.
"When the government included Draugyste's controlling package [of shares] on the list of privatization, President Brazauskas phoned me and asked if it wasn't a pity to give away such a good hotel for nothing to people that neither have the finances to modernize it, nor the administrative skills. I said it was a pity," Veselka told Parliament.
"Then Brazauskas told me to remove the hotel from the list of privatization in checks, and he, as president, promised to find funds and turn it into a high-class hotel," he said.
The MP added that, after he left the office, he didn't keep track of how the privatization was carried out, nor Brazauskas' role in it.
Given the last public opinion polls, a major part of society is annoyed with those Social Democrats who found a loophole to dodge questioning Brazauskas in Parliament. (The prime minister said he would resign if forced to answer MPs' questions.)
The Social Democrat leader has become the country's most unpopular politician.
A poll conducted by Vilmorus concluded that 27.2 percent approved of Brazauskas, while 54.8 percent disapproved.
