Lietuva in brief

A group of Seimas members registered an amendment to the Law on Elections to Municipal Councils that would allow for the direct election of mayors in the elections to municipal councils already in 2011, reports ELTA. Under the draft project, people would be able to elect their mayor out of all the candidates proposed by political parties, public organizations and individuals who nominated themselves for the position. “Public opinion polls show that Lithuanian residents would like to elect mayors directly in the next municipal elections. This would ensure greater mayoral responsibility for the residents, because he would receive his mandate from them. Moreover, the president has also repeatedly called for providing such opportunity for the residents,” said Erikas Tamasauskas, one of the initiators of the amendment. The amendment has been proposed by the parliamentarians Erikas Tamasauskas, Vytautas Kurpuvesas, Valentinas Bukauskas and Liudvikas Sabutis.