Almost half of Lithuania’s population have lost trust in local government institutions since the so-called receipts scandal of allegedly shady payouts, according to a survey commissioned by LRT.
In May, Laisvės TV began releasing expense reports of local politicians, showing they had claimed thousands in what appears as bogus travel costs, as well as spending not backed by receipts.
The ensuing crisis was dubbed the “receipts scandal” and touched all the dominant parties and their members, including a serving minister who was forced to resign.
People were asked how the receipts scandal had affected their opinion of local government, and 47 percent said they had lost trust in local authorities. This was the most common response among urban residents aged over 50, and women were more likely than men to be disappointed with local government.
In total, 32 percent said the receipts scandal had not changed their attitude towards local authorities.
And only three percent said they trusted their local government more after the receipts scandal. Young people (aged 18-29) were more likely to trust local government after the scandal.
Meanwhile, 10 percent said they had not heard anything at all about the receipts scandal.
The survey of 1,016 Lithuanian adult citizens was carried out between August 24 and September 5 by Baltijos Tyrimai.
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