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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Lithuanians go to polls as inequality tops agenda

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Lithuanians were choosing a new president on Sunday in a close race dominated by concerns over poverty and income inequality in the Baltic state that boasts some of the euro zone’s strongest growth. Nine candidates are vying to fill the shoes of two-term independent incumbent Dalia Grybauskaite, nicknamed the “Iron Lady” for her strong resolve and who has been tipped as a contender to be the next president of the European Council. But surveys suggest only three stand a chance of making it to an expected May 26 run-off that would coincide with European Parliament elections.


Centre-left Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, conservative ex-finance minister Ingrida Simonyte and independent economist Gitanas Nauseda lead the pack focused primarily on bread and butter issues. Simonyte, who scored 22.3 per cent in a pre-election poll, is popular with wealthy, educated urban voters while Skvernelis’ populist approach resonates with the rural poor. The Vilmorus pollsters gave him 16.7 per cent backing, while Nauseda scored 21.9 per cent.


Nauseda, an economist, seeks to bridge the rich-poor divide in the former Soviet republic of 2.8 million people that joined the EU and Nato in 2004. It is struggling with a sharp decline in population owing to mass emigration to Western Europe by people seeking a better life.


A recent EU report noted that almost 30 per cent of Lithuanians “are at risk of poverty or social exclusion” and that this risk is “nearly double” in rural areas.


“Citizens are thirsty for social justice and seek a candidate who can bridge existing social polarisation,” Donatas Puslys from the Vilnius Policy Analysis Institute said.


All candidates support EU and Nato membership as bulwarks against neighbouring Russia, especially since its 2014 military intervention in Ukraine. Robust annual wage growth of around 10 per cent has raised the average gross monthly salary to 970 euros but poverty and income inequality remain among the highest in the EU, largely due to weak progressive taxation.


Unemployment stood at 6.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, and the economy is forecast to grow by 2.7 per cent this year, well above an average of 1.1 per cent in the 19-member euro zone.


Brussels has urged Vilnius to use solid growth fuelled mostly by consumption to broaden its tax base and spend more


on social policies. A technocrat who warns against deepening inequality and the rural-urban divide, Simonyte has vowed to reduce it by boosting growth further. — AFP


Vaidotas BENIUSIS and Saulius JAKUCIONIS


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