It would be a "government of common action," not a coalition, both parties said. All other parties, except the Conservative Party, are welcome to join in, said Paulauskas and Brazauskas.
Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas, leader of the Lithuanian Liberal Union, resigned on June 20.
On June 25, Paulauskas met with President Valdas Adamkus and told him that Brazauskas is the official candidate of the Social Democrats and the Social Liberals.
"Adamkus will consider the nomination of Brazauskas for prime minister," Paulauskas said triumphantly after the meeting. He has little choice. Although the nomination of prime minister is the prerogative of the president, according to the Lithuanian constitution, together the Social Liberals and the Social Democrats form a sizable majority of votes in the Parliament.
Adamkus, who was hospitalized June 25 for a kidney stone soon after being discharged for appendicitis, has yet to comment on the plans of Brazauskas and Paulauskas.
Paulauskas said that Brazauskas' government could be formed by July 13.
"The new government will not be a social democratic government. It will be a government (consisting) of a broad spectrum of political forces," said Vytenis Andriukaitis, leader of the Social Democratic Party, during a press conference.
"It will not be a coalition government. We will propose our prime minister, but we are not taking power," he continued.
Observers say that the leftists consider the Social Liberals unreliable partners and do not want to sign a strict coalition treaty with Paulauskas' party.
The Social Democrats and the Social Liberals signed a joint declaration saying they would continue Lithuania's drive toward NATO and European Union membership while pursuing a "socially oriented market economy."
"The party will actively strive for Lithuanian entry into the European Union and NATO, and will do everything to make the country a more attractive place for foreign investors," Paulauskas said in a press release.
But some MPs say they are worried about Brazauskas' relationship with Russian oil and gas companies, whose influence some blame for the collapse of the Paksas government.
"I'm concerned about his position on the Williams-Yukos deal," said Kazys Bobelis, chairman of the Lithuanian Christian Democrats. "I'm also worried about the rise in the influence of Gazprom."
Paksas' Liberal Union has decided not to join the new ruling coalition under construction by the Social Democrats and the Social Liberals, urging the members of other parliamentary factions to follow suit and consult them on the formation of a broad-based government.
The crisis gripping Lithuania began on June 18, when Paulauskas asked his Liberal coalition partner Paksas to leave the post of prime minister. Paulauskas said Paksas has a problem with his communication skills.
Unofficially, it is widely understood that the Social Liberals are close to Lithuanian gas import companies and have had clear disagreements over the privatization of the Lithuanian gas company Lietuvos Dujos. When Paksas refused to go, the Social Liberal ministers in his Cabinet resigned instead.
Paksas was forced to announce his resignation. "I resign to preserve the ruling coalition and not allow the leftists to come to power," he said.
Paksas proposed his long-time friend Finance Minister Jonas Lionginas as acting prime minister. However, from his hospital bed President Valdas Adamkus rejected this suggestion and appointed Economy Minister Eugenijus Gentvilas. Both Lionginas and Gentvilas are Liberal Union members.
On June 21, the Social Liberals started negotiations with the Social Democratic Party. But after a couple of hours, worried that Brazauskas demanded his party dominate the new government, Paulauskas convinced his party members to pull out.
Later the same day, it appeared the Social Liberals, the Liberals and their smaller partners were close to preserving the ruling centrist coalition and supporting Gentvilas as the new prime minister.
However, that evening, in a sitting of the leaders of the Liberal Union, Paksas and his supporters decided to break negotiations with Paulauskas' party. Political observers say Paksas was worried about the rising influence of Gentvilas, the Liberals' vice chairman, in the party, which could damage Paksas' hopes of becoming the Liberals' candidate in presidential elections scheduled for late 2002.
Only Gentvilas himself, Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas, and MP Eligijus Masiulis were in favor of a new Liberal/Social Liberal government with Gentvilas as prime minister. Most of other Liberals supported Paksas' position.
On June 22, Brazauskas and Paulauskas appeared in front of journalists in Parliament and announced negotiations over the creation of a new government.
"There is no other solution," Brazauskas said, clearly delighted. "We also plan talks with [New Democracy Party leader] Kazimiera Prunskiene, [Peasants' Party leader] Ramunas Karbauskis, [Lithuanian Christian Democrat leader] Kazys Bobelis, and the Center Union," Paulauskas said.
Prunskiene's party, consisting of three MPs, has agreed to join Brazauskas' government. Bobelis and Karbauskis are more skeptical. "We are not left, we are not right," Karbauskis said about his party and his reluctance to join the leftists.
The Social Democrat faction has 48 seats in the 141-seat Parliament. The Social Liberal faction has 28. The Liberal Union has 33 MPs.
Brazauskas, now 68, was elected chairman of the Communist Party of Lithuania in 1988 and was Lithuania's president from 1993 to 1998.
According to the constitution, the president should propose to Parliament a new candidate to lead the government. Everybody is waiting for his decision.
Adamkus, 74, is consulting with the leaders of political parties in the clinic where he is recovering from surgery to remove his kidney stone. Under the constitution the president must nominate a candidate within 15 days after Paksas' resignation.
The president can choose from a wide spectrum of other candidates besides Brazauskas, including Conservative former PM Andrius Kubilius. But Kubilius stands no chance of being accepted by the Parliament. New parliamentary elections must be held if Parliament twice refuses to approve the president's candidate.
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