Prunskienė will run for elections with Tomaszewski?

On Saturday (the 25th of August) the Dog Breeders’ Club in Šalčininkai organizes a festival named ‘Summer 2012 in Dog Breeders’ Club in Šalčininkai’. The celebration will consist of two parts: the first one includes three shows of ‘lesser brothers’ and the second will focus on artistic and humorous aspects – during this part, Šalčininkai will change into ‘the Republic of Four-legged Pets’ for one evening.

During the holiday, the ‘Independence Day of ‘Four-Legged Pets’ will be declared for the first time and the president of the Republic of Four-legged Pets will be elected, which should meet the following requirements: it has to be a dog or a cat, at least five years old, living in Lithuania for at least five years, able to bark (or meow) in several languages, in a good physical condition (shiny coat, healthy teeth and sharp fangs), with no bad habits and with the ability to keep its mouth shut and to perform all orders of the hosts.

The organizers prepared lots of attractions, shows, lectures, competitions and quizzes for children and adults.

In the first part of the celebration, at 9 am on the playing field of Jan Śniadecki Gymnasium, the first National Dog Show will begin. At 10 am in the city park a mongrel-dog show will be held, during which the most beautiful mixed-breed dog of Šalčininkai will be chosen. A cat show starts at 9 o’clock in Jan Śniadecki Gymnasium.

The second part of the event is scheduled for 4 pm in the city park. It will include humorous declaration of the ‘Independence Day of Four-legged Pets’ and the inauguration of the election of the ‘President of the Republic of Four-Legged Pets’, followed by a concert, a parade of balloons and a feast for all attendees.

Dog and cat breeders and owners of pets from Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and other European countries have already declared their intention to participate in the festival.

Founded by Kazimiera Prunskienė, first Prime Minister of the independent Lithuania, the Lithuanian People’s Party (Lietuvos liaudies partija) will not run for election on its own,  but will join the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania. Currently talks are being conducted between the leaders of the parties.

‘A final decision has not been reached yet. The talks are conducted. In my opinion by the end of the week the situation will be clear.’- said Vaidotas Prunskus, son of Kazimiera  Prunskienė who is the leader of the party. Some sources claim that Prunskus will be given a 4^th place on the electoral register.

Prunskus told DELFI that he does not have any plans of joining 2 parties together and the common electoral register will exist only for the time of the elections. ‘It is just about the chance of running for election (…). On one’s own it would be hard to reach the 5% election threshold.’- explained Prunskus.
For some time, the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania is viewed as a countrywide party, not a regional or ethnic minority’s one. The EAPL plans to reach the election threshold and participate in creating the future coalition government.

The Lithuanian People’s Party was founded in Spring 2012 after the break- up in the Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union (Valstiečių liaudininkų sąjunga) and after removing Kazimira Prunskienė from her position of the leader. In September 2011, Kazimiera Prunskienė’s new party signed in Moscow the agreement of cooperating with Putin’s United Russia. During the last year’s local election, the Lithuanian People’s Party received only 7 mandates (from 1,500). A well- known Lithuanian publicist Audrius Bačiulis is convinced that ‘it  was Waldemar Tomaszewski and EAPL that finished off the ‘pro- Russian’ party of Kazimiera Prunskienė’.

Talmont: I cannot say anything.

The representatives of the Electoral Action were not eager to present their opinions on this topic. Leonard Talmont, MP and the deputy leader of the party told PL DELFI that he has not heard anything on this matter yet. ‘I cannot say anything, because I do not know.  It was not discussed in the party. Please call the leader.’- said Talmont.

The leader of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania did not want to express his opinion either. He told PL DELFI that a special announcement can be found on the party’s website and the details will be presented during the press conference on Thursday.

In the party’s announcement it is stated that the Electoral Action is popular not only among Poles but also among various social groups in Lithuania.’The representatives of social groups of all regions of Lithuania and some parties expressed their willingness to run for elections from the electoral register of the Electoral Action of Poles’.

It was also announced that talks are being conducted with the representatives of other parties. ‘A common electoral register of the Electoral Action with the leaders of all regions will be created by the representatives of over 30 organisations and parties with whom consultations and negotiations are being conducted. The decisions will be made on Wednesday and will be presented to the society and media on a press conference on Thursday’- was written in the announcement.

Source:  http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/litwa/prunskiene-na-wybory-pojdzie-z-tomaszewskim.d?id=59346457

Tłumaczenie Ewelina Zarembska w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Ewelina Zarembska within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.