VILNIUS - Dalia Grybauskaite, the European Commission member for financial programming and budget, has won the May 17 presidential elections in a landslide victory.
Grybauskaite, 53, who will make history as the country's first female president, said she understands the victory comes with a profound responsibility and is ready to take the job on.
"I would like to congratulate the Lithuanian people on their decision and I think that together, with their continued belief in me, we can make it out of hardship as a far better and more prosperous people," Grybauskaite announced at a celebration in her election headquarters.
Valdas Adamkus, the current President of Lithuania, congratulated Grybauskaite and expressed his delight with the results.
"I am greatly delighted that the people of Lithuania demonstrated strong political will and elected the new president of Lithuania in the first round" he said.
Andrius Kubilius, the prime minister and the head of the Lithuanian conservatives, was also one of the first ones to celebrate the victory. Kubilius has expressed strong support for Grybauskaite, even though she takes pride in her independence and has disassociated herself from any particular political party.
Grybauskaite also collected the largest percentage of votes in the history of Lithuanian presidential elections. Central Electoral Commission (CEC) data shows that 69.08 percent of the electorate gave their support to the candidate.
Zenonas Vaigauskas, the head of the CEC, confirmed to The Baltic Times that the data from all 60 municipalities, 2,035 districts, is definite. He said there might be only minor insignificant changes, if any, and the final official results will be announced May 24.
The CEC data shows that Grybauskaite's closest rival in the elections 's Algirdas Butkevicius, the leader of Lithuanian Social Democrats 's won only 11.68 percent of the votes. Valentinas Mazuronis from the Order and Justice party, which is run by former impeached president Rolandas Paksas, received 6.08 percent of the votes.
Valdemar Tomasevski, the head of the Polish election action, collected 4.68 percent of votes, Kazimira Danute Prunskiene from the Peasant Popular Union won 3.86 percent, Loreta Grauziniene of the Labor Party took 3.57 percent and independent candidate Ceslovas Jezerskas earned 0.66 percent of all votes.
Grybauskaite had a higher level of support in urban areas 's especially in Kaunas, where she earned 83.19 percent of the votes. She is the only candidate to collect votes in each district, and lost in only four municipalities out of 60. According to RAIT, the candidate had more support among female voters at 71.9 percent than male voters at 63.1 percent.
Turnout at the first round of elections was 51.71 percent 's enough to render the second round needless. This is the first time since the 1993 elections that a candidate has won in the first round of the presidential elections. Algirdas Brazauskas, who won in 1993, had a larger quantity of people voting for him, but the percentage of supporters was not as high.
If Grybauskaite had not received the majority of the votes in the first round, the final results of the elections would be determined by the plurality of votes at the second round on June 7, wich would have taken place alongside the European parliament elections.
The redundancy of the second round of elections was clear from the pre-election polls, which revealed the sky-high popularity of Grybauskaite. Considering relatively apathetic voting habits of Lithuanians, most politicians, state officials and news observers had previously forecasted that there would be a second round.
The lack of a second round of elections is good news for Lithuania at a time the country faces one of the worst economic crises in history. Approximately 800,000 litas (231,696 euros) will be saved by holding only one round of elections, said Vaigauskas.
The Lithuanian laws provide that the government members must hand over their mandates to the newly elected president, who will decide whether to approve the Cabinet, which is again decided by voting in the Seimas (Lithuanian parliament).
Known for her no-nonsense attitude, straightforward comments and harsh criticism of mistakes, Grybauskaite said multiple times during the election campaign 's and implied again on May 18 's that five ministers should fear losing their posts.
The incoming president said she is not satisfied with the work results of Finance Minister Algirdas Semeta, Economy Minister Dainius Kreivys, Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas, Social Security and Labor Minister Rimantas Dagys and Healthcare Minister Algis Caplikas.
"These are the spheres which need very professional ministers. The government must defeat the crisis. We have no other choice," Grybauskaite said. However, she also said she sees no other candidates for the post of the prime minister and will not dismiss anyone needlessly.
The "iron lady," as the prospective president is often referred to in Lithuania and Europe, nevertheless has a set opinion that LEO LT, the national investor to energy projects, should be disbanded. Grybauskaite has previously called LEO an "unfortunate, shameful solution," because it has been found unconstitutional and there are no guarantees it would do the job that it was intended to do.
Grybauskaite has worked in the Lithuanian embassy in the U.S.A. and as the minister of finance. She is supported by the conservative Kubilius and the social democrat Brazauskas, who both claim they brought her to politics.
The Lithuanian population and media have considered Grybauskaite one of the most mysterious politicians because she does not have a family and does not like to talk about her personal life. Grybauskaite is a martial arts master, and holds a black belt in karate.
She was forced to clarify her sexuality and deny that she was a lesbian earlier last year, and more recently had to publish her birth certificate to prove she is of Lithuanian origin.
The newly elected president will take over the post on July 13.
