Valdas Benkunskas, the candidate of the conservative Homeland Union (TS-LKD), was said to be “known to no one” and was criticised for his bland personality at the beginning of the election campaign. On Sunday, however, he was elected the new mayor of Vilnius.
Benkunskas grew up in the town of Šilutė in Western Lithuania. He is a lawyer by trade, having graduated from Mykolas Romeris University.
He started his career as an advisor to the conservative MP Paulus Saudargas and was first elected to the Vilnius City Council in 2011. In 2015-2017 and since 2019 until now, Benkunskas has served as deputy mayor of Vilnius.
Saudargas recalled that he hired Benkunskas as his advisor because he had performed well in his election campaign in 2008.
“I remember him as very competent. He is a lawyer, and that knowledge was very much needed in the Seimas. [...] I had practically no complaints about him. He was hard-working, qualified, responsible,” Saudargas told LRT.lt
According to the MP, the new Vilnius mayor has matured as a politician over the years. It is also natural that Benkunskas has long been in the shadow of his predecessor Remigijus Šimašius, Saudargas said.
Sense of humour
The current Vilnius Mayor Šimašius said he supported his deputy Benkunskas in the second round of mayoral elections on Sunday. The two have worked together for eight years.
“There have been all kinds of things, but in the last term, we worked very smoothly, and I consider the deputy mayor’s work to be very good. He is a responsible, diligent, hard-working person who can concentrate on different areas and work,” Šimašius said.
According to him, however, it would have been hard to imagine that Benkunskas would one day become mayor of Vilnius ten years ago.
“I think he showed his ideological side during the elections. He is a calm, responsible person, and that’s typical of TS-LKD,” Šimašius said. “I and the Freedom Party would probably like to see more vigour, more searching for opportunities, but I can say that Valdas has a better sense of humour than one sees in public. Everything is fine and well with him.”
Personal transformation
Agnė Andriulytė, a member of the Vilnius City Council, said that Benkunskas became a prominent political figure around two years ago. According to her, that is because he has become a more self-confident politician who defends his position.
“I have witnessed a huge transformation of Benkunskas. [...] I used to be more sceptical, but the man has really changed a lot,” said the representative of the opposition Freedom and Justice group.
MP Ieva Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė of the Labour Party, who used to work in the Vilnius City Council, believes that Benkunskas will be a successful mayor who will have the support of the council.
“Valdas is very responsible. He plans well before doing anything. Maybe sometimes he lacks the momentum when it comes to making quick decisions, but he is very good at assessing the consequences of his decisions, and when he makes them, he follows through,” she said.
She noted that as deputy mayor, Benkunskas often visited the Seimas, and the parliament members consulted with him.
“He is a person who looks beyond the scope of his competence, he looks at what could be done better, and we have consulted with him quite a lot on legislation. I think he will be a good and responsible mayor,” Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė said.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
