Kangaroo king's presidential bid

The wealthy Australia-born lawyer and TV personality Juozas Petraitis has become the latest high profile person to announce his ambition to become Lithuania's president.

His priority if elected would be reforming Lithuania's legal and taxation systems, the 44-year-old Cambridge University graduate told journalists at a news conference on June 19.

"The time has come for Lithuania not to be ruled by amateurs but by specialists," said Petraitis.

At Cambridge, Petraitis won himself a reputation as a firebrand by refusing to accept his degree certificate until it was written using Lithuanian orthography, a demand which the university took six months to satisfy.

Although not aligned with a particular political force, he told reporters, "I feel a Christian Democrat in my heart."

Petraitis, who has lived in Lithuania for 14 years, said it had been a tough decision to stand but ultimately his supporters' encouragement prevailed. "The people convinced me there's nobody else to vote for currently," said Petraitis.

He expressed confidence in his ability to win enough support to clinch victory in the first round on Dec. 22.

With considerable wealth at his disposal from trading real estate and cars Petraitis said he would allocate as much money as was needed to win.

Media reports estimate Petraitis' property, art collection and real estate to be worth 200 million litas ($56 million). He is currently renovating a huge house near the British Embassy in Vilnius.

After arriving in the land of his ancestors in 1989, Petraitis began work as a legal consultant and property dealer and became an adviser on privatization issues to the Ministry of Economy and the Trade and Industry Ministry.

Petraitis has become well known for the outspoken views he has aired on the TV 4 programs of journalist Vytautas Matulevicius. There he has dubbed the U.S. company Williams International, part owner of Mazeikiu Nafta oil refinery, as "a bunch of crooks" and claimed that current President Valdas Adamkus is incompetent.

Recently Petraitis built an Australian aboriginal style restaurant called Kookaburra, which is set to serve kangaroo and crocodile meat, on Vilnius' Gedimino Avenue. But the restaurant has so far been refused a license because of a lack of wheelchair access to its toilets.

So far more than 20 people have announced a wish to participate in the presidential election. But the biggest hitters, President Valdas Adamkus, Prime Minister Algir-das Brazauskas and Parliament Chairman Arturas Paulauskas, have yet to explicitly declare their intentions.