VILNIUS - "We are coming back!"
Such will be the new slogan of the revived Liberal Democrat Party, led by former President Rolandas Paksas, who was removed from the presidency last year. The party held a reunion last week in Varniai, where they decided to rejuvenate their program in order to profit from the country's scandal-ridden political situation.
"People expect reforms from us," Paksas told fellow party members at the reunion. "People don't want us to be in the opposition. They want us to hold the presidency. They don't want Liberal Democrats to have only 130 municipal seats."
Blocked from holding public office by a constitutional amendment, Paksas has reportedly considered running for the position of Vilnius mayor this fall, one that does not require an oath. Paksas was elected mayor of the capital twice in the 1990s.
Despite the disgrace of having become the first European president forced from office, Paksas exuded confidence. "Every election I ran, I always won," he told the TV channel LNK. His biggest rival, he added, was the capital's current mayor, Arturas Zuokas.
But the road to victory is all uphill. The Liberal Democrats must confront their internal problems first, and that promises to be formidable. Recently one of the party's main ideologists, MP Henrikas Zukauskas, left the organization, and is reportedly attempting to create his own political party.
"A party is strong when it has a strong leader, and when it's a strong, intellectual, progressive team. It seems to me that none of these characteristics apply to present Liberal Democrats," Zukauskas told the press.
"Ambitions and a desire to achieve something is a good and praiseworthy thing. Nevertheless, they need to sense the ground under their feet and maintain a logical prognosis," said the former LibDem.
Political scientist Lauras Bielinis said that the LibDems could partially achieve their goal, which, as he sees it, is to maintain some 6 percent of the present electorate, or even boost support to 10 percent.
"However, nothing serious would happen, even if the Liberal Democrats grew stronger. Their work in the Seimas [Lithuania's parliament] speaks for itself. Liberal Democrats as politicians are unprofessional and a bit naive. This discredits the party more than it helps to achieve something," Bielinis told the Lietuvos Zinios daily.
