elections

Several political parties would like to have a Lithuanian Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna in their candidate lists during October's general elections, while the athlete himself says he has not yet made up his mind about going into politics.

Outgoing Interior Minister Saulius Skvernelis could have breached official ethics by using the Ministry's public relations resources for campaigning, according to the Central Electoral Commission.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė has signed a decree, calling the general elections on October 9, her press office said on Thursday.

Liberal Movement Council approved 32 new single member constituency representatives to take part in this year's parliamentary elections over the weekend.

Both the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats and the Labour Party are trying to promote new faces in the run-up to upcoming elections, but political analysts say the Conservatives are suffering from an identity crisis.

One of the country's most famous athletes, discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna has said he had no plans to join the Social Democrats for the upcoming parliamentary elections, and may not take part in the elections at all.

Lithuania's Interior Minister Saulius Skvernelis has decided to run for parliament in the upcoming elections with the Peasant and Green Union.

The Lithuanian parliament has rejected a bill that would have laid down the rules for online voting.

A bill on online voting is being presented to the Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday. The piece of legislation, drafted by the Ministry of Justice, lays out the basics of online voting without actually introducing the measure yet.

The law on political campaign financing, adopted in 2011, bans politicians from accepting donations from corporate entities, although they can still accept support from individuals. However, politicians can bypass the rules and campaign through charity funds, Lietuvos Žinios reports.

Most Lithuanian members of the European Parliament are not planning to run for seats in the national parliament, Seimas, this October. Many are likely to have been deterred by new electoral rules which would automatically deprive elected MPs of their seats in the EP.

Lithuania cannot afford to waste another four years ignoring the many structural problems the country faces, according to the Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats leader Gabrielius Landsbergis.

While Lithuanian political parties tend to base their political campaigns on short term populist objectives, they mostly come up short when delivering on those pledges, an analysis by political scientists has shown.

Lithuania‘s Liberal Movement hopes to win almost three times more seats than they currently have, increasing their share to 30 from the current level of 11.

23 registered Lithuanian political parties have submitted their member lists to the Ministry of Justice by 1 March and will be able to participate in the Seimas elections coming up in October.

Major change in Lithuania is difficult and slow because of the short political lives of the average Lithuanian government, according to Darius Žeruolis, a political scientist at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University.

Corruption suspicions in several Lithuanian ministries have severely damaged the government's ratings, a new poll shows. Popularity of Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and his party, the Social Democrats, has suffered as well.