Election campaign reaches its peak

VILNIUS - Parliamentary campaign passions are starting to boil in Lithuania. Elections will be held on Oct. 8, and political analysts said that Arturas Paulauskas, leader of the New Union (Social Liberals), has the best chance to create a government after the elections.

A survey by the social research firm Vilmorus says that leaders in the election remain the same. The New Union leads with 28.2 percent. It is followed closely by the Social Democratic Coalition of Algirdas Brazauskas with 23.8 percent. Both parties leave behind the Liberal Union of former Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas (14.5 percent), the now ruling Conservative Party of parliamentary speaker Vytautas Landsbergis (8 percent), the Peasants' Party of Ramunas Karbauskis (5.4 percent) and the Center Union of Romualdas Ozolas (5.1 percent).

It should be noted, however, that roughly a third of voters remain undecided.

There are 15 election lists of political parties and coalitions taking part in the elections. According to election programs and speeches, all 15 say that they are for Lithuanian membership in the European Union, though some tiny parties urge the country not to hurry too much into the embrace of Brussels "Eurocrats."

Almost all election lists favor NATO membership as well. The exception might be the small Freedom Union of Kaunas Mayor Vytautas Sustauskas, who never spoke about NATO. The second exception is the marginal "Union for Correct Lithuania" of Julius Veselka, who says that Lithuania should follow in the steps of Switzerland and Sweden and stay neutral.

Another survey by Vilmorus showed that 44.3 percent of respondents say that the Conservatives represent the interests of Western countries rather than economic and political concerns of Lithuania. Paulauskas and Paksas are quick to support such opinion in their election campaign speeches.

Privatization of the oil refinery Mazeikiu Nafta by U.S. company Williams was harmful to Lithuania, states Paksas.

Paulauskas points out that the tenders to privatize LISCO and other big state enterprises, are biased away from Lithuanian businessmen."Official rules of tender demand 10 years of experience from the privatizing firm. Lithuania reestablished its independence only 10 years ago. Any Lithuanian firm cannot meet this condition. However, Lithuanian businessmen have enough money and skills to privatize such big businesses as LISCO," Paulauskas said during his election debates versus Conservative Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius on Baltijos TV.

Kubilius said that such conditions of the tender enables bidders to bring in an experienced strategic partner from the West. However, his arguments did not convince Paulauskas.

The Social Democrats also use privatization issues as planks in their campaign platform. Such behavior of the Leftists is described as populist by Lithuanian political commentators.

The Social Democrats say that the state should control packages of shares in the "strategic objects," such as the oil industry or nuclear power station. The government should buy control share packages of those strategic objects which were already privatized, says Ceslovas Jursenas, one of the leaders of the Social Democrats.

Newspapers' columnists do not take such statements seriously. On the eve of previous parliamentary elections of 1996, the Conservatives were shouting almost identical demands on preservation of state control in strategic objects when the Conservatives were in opposition.

On Sept. 30 a group of professors of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science held a press conference on the coming elections. "The New Union will make decisions on the profile of the future government," said Raimundas Lopata, director of the institute.