VILNIS - The political fate of controversial figure Viktor Uspaskich and Lithuania's Labor Party will be decided on Oct. 21 when the second round of a parliamentary by-election for the Alytus district will be held.
Uspaskich, who founded the Labor Party in 2003, is currently under house arrest in Kedainiai.
A suspect in a tax fraud investigation, he had been living in Russia for 18 months avoiding prosecutors. Uspaskich returned to Lithuania in September in order to run for the parliamentary seat.
In the first round of the election, held Oct. 7, Uspaskich won 20.26 percent of the vote compared to his Conservative Party rival, Kestutis Cilinskas, who garnered 30.29 percent. Because neither candidate received the required 40 percent, a second round for the election was required.
Labor Party leader Kestutis Daugys, who attended a pro-Uspaskich rally on Oct. 13, said the politician has about 600 supporters working on his campaign in the Alytus district.
"It is difficult for us, because people want to see Uspaskich in Alytus," Daugys told The Baltic Times. "Some politicians don't want him elected."
According to a Labor Party statement, 2,027 electors signed a petition addressed to Prosecutor General Algimantas Valantinas to allow Uspaskich to make a visit to the district. The head of the Labor Party's election campaign, Dangute Mikutiene, will send the request.
Both the Labor Party and the Conservatives have been spending large amounts of money on mailings, phone calls, and public events related to the campaign. In the week running up to the Oct. 21 vote, both sides had exhausted their budgets.
Campaign expense reports filed with the Central Electoral Committee on Oct. 16 indicate the Conservative Party spent 71, 227 litas (20,654 euros) and the Labor Party, 60,919 litas (17,657 euros).
However, there has been some dispute about whether both sides are sticking to the rules.
Lithuanian law sets the total amount the parties can spend at 79,000 litas, according to the CEC.
Head of the Conservative Party election campaign Jurgis Razma told The Baltic Times that the Labor Party exceeds its campaign financing limit but doesn't show it on paper.
"Nobody can find the money. It's a big problem," he said.
Razma said the Labor Party and the media cut corners and reaped the benefits from Uspaskich's much publicized house arrest. Earlier this month, Zmones magazine featured a 7-page article profiling the candidate and his family.
"They were all positive articles about him, very beautiful photos too," said Razma.
Despite the publicity, experts are predicting a low turnout in the poll due to public mistrust.
"It will look very weak in terms of the share of eligible voters. They may not reach one-fifth in the participation," said International Economics Professor and Head of European Studies Jonas Cicinskas.
"Many politicians are more interested in this election [than the public]."
