Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, leader of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) that won general elections, has announced that she will not be serving as prime minister.
The 64-year-old MEP made the announcement at a meeting of the party’s leadership on Wednesday. Instead, she suggested that fellow Social Democrat Gintautas Paluckas, a former leader of the party, should lead the government.
“This was a united decision by the party’s praesidium that he is the best candidate with the necessary experience and qualities for a prime minister,” Blinkevičiūtė told reporters after the meeting.
The reasons she gave for her decision were her age and health.
“I am convinced that it would be difficult for an almost 65-year-old prime minister to perform her duties because I am a pensioner and I have really appreciated during the whole election period what a responsible job it would be, how much it would require in terms of health and strength,” she said.
Blinkevičiūtė has also confirmed that she will not take up a seat in the Lithuanian parliament and will continue to serve as a member of the European Parliament.
“I've been working in the European Parliament for 15 years. This is my last term, and I intend to finish it,” she said.
The LSDP leader did not tell reporters on Wednesday why she had not announced her decision earlier, nor whether she thought she had betrayed voters by changing her stance.
“First of all, they voted for the Social Democratic Party, and their trust in our party is such that we are forming the ruling majority,” she said.
Blinkevičiūtė said she informed President Gitanas Nausėda during their meeting after the second round of the parliamentary election that she would not be able to take on the prime minister's role.
Juozas Olekas, who was also elected to the parliament and was also mentioned earlier as a possible candidate for prime minister, will be nominated for the post of first deputy speaker of the Seimas.
The LSDP won the most seats in Lithuania’s parliamentary elections this month, 52 out of 141 and is expected to form a coalition government.
Blinkevičiūtė, who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009, has led the party since 2021. During the campaign, she resisted calls to specify whether she would be prime minister in case of LSDP victory, but said she “will form a government in case of success”.
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