Lithuanian sociologist: Scandal took toll on LPGU, Karbauskis' ratings

VILNIUS – The scandal surrounding car lease and relationship with MP Greta Kildisiene has affected the rating of the ruling Lithuanian Peasant and Green Union (LPGU) and its leader Ramunas Karbauskis, says sociologist Vladas Gaidys.

"There has been an impact when it comes to the party – its ratings dropped by 6 percentage points. The votes went somewhere, some of them to those undecided (their number went up by 7 percentage points), this is a rather significant monthly rise, about one percent went to the Social Democrats, a percent to the Liberal Movement," Gaidys, CEO of Vilmorus pollster that conducted the poll published in the daily newspaper Lietuvos Rytas on Saturday, told BNS.

According to the survey, LPGU would secure 25 percent of the vote in elections, down from 31.5 percent a month ago.

In his words, the support to Karbauskis also fell by the analogous 6 percentage points, while the party's other leader, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, retained his popularity, while the other members of his Cabinet are becoming increasingly valued and known.

LPGU would be supported by 25 percent of respondents in elections, which is a decline from 31.5 percent month-on-month. The second party on the popularity list is the conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats supported by 10.4 percent of those polled (11.8 pct in December), shows the poll conducted by Vilmorus on Jan. 12-22.

The list is continued by the Social Democratic Party (9.9 pct, up from 7.8 pct in December) and the Liberal Movement (5 pct, up from 4.3 pct in December). Other parties would fail to cross the required five-percent threshold in multi-member voting, with a popularity of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Union of Christian Families, the Labor Party and the Order and Justice Party around 2 percent.