Paksas' popularity on the rise

2000-11-30

VILNIUS (BNS) - New Lithuanian Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas has seen a sharp rise in his popularity and is now identified as the best representative of national interests, according to the most recent public opinion poll published in the Lietuvos Rytas daily Nov. 25.

According to the survey, some 25.5 percent of those polled see Paksas, a former Vilnius mayor, as the most popular politician, which indicates a 12.2 percent increase since last September.

Former President Algirdas Brazauskas is ranked second with 24 per-cent, up 2.1 percent over the past two months.

Arturas Paulauskas, who headed the poll in Sept-ember, lost 5.7 percent of his support after taking the post of parliamentary speaker and is now in third position with 18.3 percent, followed by President Valdas Adamkus.

Another poll carried out by the public opinion and market research center Vilmorus on Nov. 16-19 suggests the leader of the scanty Christian Democratic Union, MP Kazys Bobelis, has the support of 7.3 percent of respondents, down 2.7 percent since September 2000.

The Social Democratic Party's leader Vytenis Andriukaitis ranks sixth, followed by the head of the Parliament's budget and finance committee, MP Kestutis Glaveckas, and the leader of the Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party, Ceslovas Jursenas.

Former Parliament Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis and MP Kazimiera Prunskiene com-plete the list, taking re-spectively ninth and last place.

The list of Lithuania's most popular politicians in November (percent, as compared with September):

1. Rolandas Paksas 25.5 up 12.5

2. Algirdas Brazauskas 24 up 2.1

3. Arturas Paulauskas 18.3 down 5.7

4. Valdas Adamkus 12.1 down 5.5

5. Kazys Bobelis 7.3 down 2.7

6.Vytenis Andriukaitis 6.4 down 1.1

7. Kestutis Glaveckas 6 up 2.2

8. Ceslovas Jursenas 5.8 up 1.1

9. Vytautas Landsbergis 5.7 down 0.2

10.Kazimiera Prunskiene 3.5 up 1.8