VILNIUS - Paving the way for collaboration in this autumn's parliamentary elections, the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Conservatives party agreed to a cooperation contract with the Liberal and Centrist Union on Aug. 8.
According to the agreement, leaders from both parties will coordinate their candidate lists to cover most of the electoral districts throughout the country.
The agreement is the first step toward forming a possible coalition that would take over the reins of government after the upcoming election.
According to party officials, a breakthrough was made when Homeland Union stipulated that it would only work with the Liberal Centrists if they agreed not to work with the upstart Labor Party, which is currently leading the polls.
While his earlier remarks left observers wondering about his political orientation, Labor Party leader Viktor Uspaskich has recently been showing signs that he would run a right-leaning campaign. Indeed, the Labor Party's delegation at the European Parliament-the lar-gest among Lithuanian parties at the EP-agreed to join the conservative Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
At an Aug. 9 press conference, Homeland Union leader Andrius Kubilius called on all political parties, including the Liberal Centrists, to stay away from Uspaskich, whom he dubbed a "populist."
"Up until now, we've been hearing unclear comments from the Liberal Centrist leadership about cooperation with the Labor Party," said Kubilius.
The same day, Liberal Centrist MP Gintaras Steponavicius reassured reporters that his party had no intention of working with Labor, but stressed that there was no way to prove the fact.
Cooperation between Homeland Union and the Liberal Centrists would mark a turning point in the Lithuanian political climate. Following Homeland Union's defeat in the last parliamentary elections in 2000 at the hands of the left-wing Social Democratic Party, infighting among center and right-wing politicians has often led to discord among the opposition.
In particular, Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas, leader of the Liberal and Centrist Union, has acted as a lightening rod for bad feelings between the two parties, with many Homeland Union members refusing to work with him.
Kubilius himself singled out Zuokas as a possible Uspaskich sympathizer in his comments to reporters.
In addition to Labor, Homeland Union and the Liberal Centrists will face off against the ruling coalition in this year's elections. The coalition's members-the New Union-Social Democratic Party and the Social Democrats, penned a cooperation agreement earlier this summer.
Many political experts have pointed out that the possibility of a full and fruitful cooperation among parties on the right may be rendered impossible by their stormy past. This would clear the way for the Social Democrats and the New Union to put their several years of governing experience together to work in a freshly elected Seimas (Lithuania's parliament).
Parliamentary elections will be held on Oct. 10, when all 141 seats in the Seimas will be up for renewal.
