Conservatives confirm first mayoral candidates, Pasvalys without Gegužinskas

The Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) have confirmed their first candidates for mayoral elections, with Pasvalys notably excluding incumbent mayor Gintautas Gegužinskas, LRT reports.

TS-LKD leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas also announced that the party will soon consider initiating a no-confidence procedure against Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė, citing incompetence, chaos, and stagnation in her leadership.

“Ruginienė’s experiment has failed. Incompetence, chaos, and stagnation—these are the consequences of her leadership for the state. While the world moves at lightning speed, we are stuck in place. If this continues, it will be difficult to catch up,” Kasčiūnas said during a TS-LKD council meeting on Saturday.

He highlighted an unprecedented cyber infiltration of state institutions, including the Ministry of the Interior, the Centre of Registers, and the Ministry of Health, as well as the government’s unprofessional response and concealment of information from the public. “Every day Inga Ruginienė remains in office is the best gift to our state’s enemies,” he added.

Kasčiūnas emphasised that political accountability cannot be avoided, stating that TS-LKD, as the largest opposition party, will discuss launching a no-confidence vote in the Seimas against the prime minister and will coordinate with liberal colleagues on the matter.

The General Prosecutor’s Office is investigating a data breach from the Centre of Registers, where over 600,000 real estate registry extracts were allegedly leaked, causing damage estimated at no less than €111,000. The State Data Protection Inspectorate estimates that around 500,000 residents were affected. The General Prosecutor’s Office launched a pre-trial investigation on April 15, the same day it received the report of the incident.

Kasčiūnas also criticised the newly forming coalition of social democrats, democrats, and the “For Lithuania” and “Peasant” parties for focusing on the distribution of ministerial posts rather than addressing geopolitical, economic, and cultural challenges.

“The biggest misunderstanding is that the forming coalition still cannot clearly name a prime minister candidate. This puts the cart before the horse and shows that the most important thing is to grab any position. The formation of a new government should start with the prime minister candidate,” he said.