Paluckas could return to political heights, analysts say

Despite resigning as prime minister amid business scandals and facing suspicion of unlawful enrichment, Gintautas Paluckas could eventually return to senior political office, analysts told LRT.

Paluckas resigned as prime minister a year ago over allegations concerning his business ties. Since then, another Social Democratic government has changed, and prosecutors have brought suspicions against him over possible unlawful enrichment.

In early July, as another Social Democratic government was being formed, Paluckas commented on the changes. Asked whether Mindaugas Sinkevičius would be a better prime minister than Inga Ruginienė, he said Sinkevičius would be “a great prime minister”. He described Ruginienė as an excellent prime minister but said changes had been necessary.

“There is a spirit of cooperation. One person does their work, and another will do theirs,” Paluckas said.

Paluckas’s work in the government ended with his resignation a year ago. At his final government meeting, he became emotional as he thanked his colleagues, saying the 19th Government had accomplished significant work and had nothing to be ashamed of.

He stepped down two months after the first investigation by Laisvės TV and the Siena Journalism Centre into his business ties and possible unlawful enrichment. Journalist Šarūnas Černiauskas said the investigation had initially raised hopes that the prime minister would acknowledge that his business should perhaps not have borrowed from a state-owned bank.

After resigning as prime minister, Paluckas remained a member of the Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament. “We have an unprecedented situation in which a former prime minister is both a suspect and still a member of the ruling majority,” Černiauskas said.

“The additional publicity he receives by being in the Seimas, without being able to push it away, does not help him. It is dragging him down,” said Linas Kontrimas, head of the Vilnius University Centre for Political Communication Research.

In May, at the request of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Seimas lifted Paluckas’s legal immunity. A few days later, law enforcement authorities formally told the former prime minister that he was suspected of a crime.

According to the case materials, Paluckas and his wife may have acquired assets worth almost 345,000 euros using unexplained income. The politician denies the allegations.

“Paluckas as a politician is a very experienced and intelligent person. I just do not understand what was going on inside him, or perhaps still is, that made him look at other people’s money differently,” Kontrimas said.

In June, a court opened bankruptcy proceedings against Garnis, a company partly controlled by Paluckas, and seized its assets. Siena and Laisvės TV reported that Garnis had received a 200,000-euro loan at preferential interest from the national development bank ILTE while Paluckas was prime minister.

Bankruptcy proceedings were later also opened against Auksitas, a company built by Paluckas’s brother Danas. In mid-August last year, Danas Paluckas was detained for a month. In September, a court imposed three months of intensive supervision. The former prime minister’s brother has been accused in an investigation also linked to Garnis.

Even after these developments, Kontrimas does not rule out Paluckas returning to senior political positions.

“Think in terms of cycles. After one, two or three election cycles, this will be ancient history in voters’ memory, while only 12 years will actually have passed. If he manages to climb out of the hole, then why not,” Kontrimas said.

“I would not rule out such a possibility, but I would advise people not to forget what they are voting for,” Černiauskas said.