VILNIUS - Now that he has returned to his more humble quarters in the Seimas (Lithuania's parliament), Arturas Paulauskas' brief stint as acting president is being acknowledged by observers as an unmitigated success that may one day secure him the top job in earnest.
Paulauskas left his post as parliamentary chairman on April 6 to become caretaker president when, as required by the constitution, he was called upon to fill the vacancy left by impeached President Rolandas Paksas. The unprecedented constitutional crisis created by the Paksas scandal meant that Paulauskas was thrown directly into what was at the time Lithuania's most precarious job at perhaps the country's most sensitive moment since the reestablishment of independence.
Crucially, Paulauskas became the country's chief representative abroad after the several months of diplomatic isolation Lithuania suffered as a result of the scandal, forcing him to repair the country's fragile ties to the outside world.
And according to all accounts, Paulauskas rose to the myriad challenges that had beset the presidency.
"He was a fantastic president," said Algimantas Cekuolis, host of a popular political commentary television show.
"He emerged as a staunch defender of the constitution, which is exactly what was needed from him at that moment," said Algis Prazauskas, professor of political science at Vytautas Magnus University.
Onlookers said this week that during his time at the President's Palace, Paulauskas may have made a decisive transition from political neophyte to seasoned politician.
Having come to politics after working for years as a prosecutor, Paulauskas' 1997 electoral debut ended in a close defeat at the hands of President Valdas Adamkus. In 2000, he took up his current post as parliamentary chairman, considered Lithuania's third-highest office, though not before a fallout with fellow center-right politicians that led to the founding of the New Union-Social Liberal party, which he leads.
Yet in spite of his relatively strong presence in Lithuanian politics, Paulauskas was considered by many not to have reached full political maturity until becoming acting president.
"Before this, he was a bit of an amateur. Even just a little while ago, he was doing many things that simply shouldn't be done in politics. He's really grown up in the past few months," said Prazauskas.
Paulauskas' newly achieved repute is attested by his prolific record for such a short time at the Presidential Palace.
Apparently determined to rescue Lithuania from its pariah status under Paksas, Paulauskas made the country's first state visit in over six months just days after being sworn in. After this initial trip to Ukraine, the acting president visited Mexico, where he secured a bilateral visa-free travel regime, and the United States before representing Lithuania for the first time as full member at the Istanbul NATO summit in late June.
Paulauskas also appointed several key government officials who will shape national policy for years to come. He replaced Mecys Laurinkus, the controversial former director of the State Security Department who ordered the investigations that eventually led to Paksas' impeachment, and appointed Afghanistan war veteran Valdas Tutkus as supreme armed forces commander.
"He did a great job in performing the president's functions in this respect. Even though he took pains to say that he was just president temporarily, he was tough enough to make decisions with a permanent effect," said Cekuolis.
While Paulauskas declined to run in last months elections, analysts speculate that his impressive showing as acting head of state has laid the foundation for a future-possibly successful-presidential bid, perhaps when Adamkus' term ends in 2009.
"It's difficult to speculate, but right now there is no clear, solid figure on the horizon to lead the country besides him. He would be an optimal figure to be president," said Prazauskas.
Paulauskas, who left the Presidential Palace on July 12 when Adamkus was sworn in, will have to defend the parliamentary chairmanship in the Seimas elections to be held this autumn.
