Lithuanians vote against rather than in favor

Feb 14, 2012

VILNIUS– “Lithuanians are inclined to vote against politicians they do not like instead of supporting some political party or a politician. This is why trust in politicians in Lithuania is so low,” says Mindaugas Linge, presidential advisor on internal affairs.

"We have witnessed a phenomenon when during elections we express our trust in some of the candidates and immediately after the elections we burst with distrust, criticism and disappointment. The roots of this phenomenon lie in the fact that people in Lithuania tend to vote against rather than in favor of someone. Such practice should be eliminated and then perhaps on the eve of 30th anniversary of independence we will be more mature about the democratic processes. And marking our 100th anniversary of independence restoration, we will be able to pinpoint our choice: why voted in favor of that or another person or party, preventing any disappointment which would usually follow," he said on the radio Ziniu Radijas.

The presidential advisor stressed that Eurobometer polls reveal that Lithuania comes third in the list of those countries which distrust their parliament most with only 11 percent of residents trusting the Seimas. Meanwhile, in Estonia and Sweden the rates stand at 40 and 71 percent respectively.

That gives "some food for thought" before the upcoming parliamentary elections, Linge says. Another problem which Linge pointed out was a prevailing thinking that the state affairs are directly linked to one's personal welfare. The presidential advisor says that Lithuanians tend to treat their country as the one who must resolve their problems, forgetting common public interest.

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