Analyst doubts Jasiukevičius can unseat Kaunas mayor

Military affairs expert and Ukraine supporter Šarūnas Jasiukevičius will be the conservative candidate for mayor of Kaunas, but political analysts doubt he can defeat long-serving incumbent Visvaldas Matijošaitis, LRT reports.

Political scientist Ignas Kalpokas joked that voters might confuse Jasiukevičius with basketball coach Šarūnas Jasikevičius, failing to notice one letter in the surname.

Jasiukevičius was selected on Sunday by the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats. He is a public activist, entrepreneur and military affairs expert who actively supports Ukraine.

Kalpokas, a lecturer at Vytautas Magnus University, said the party had moved towards the conservative right since Laurynas Kasčiūnas took over its leadership. He said it was therefore unsurprising that a political “outsider” would seek the mayor’s post in Kaunas after leaving Nacionalinis susivienijimas last year. Jasiukevičius was among the founders of that party.

“This says something about the Homeland Union’s Kaunas branch, which since losing power in the city has appeared somewhat scattered and demotivated, and unable to develop its own local leaders,” Kalpokas said.

He said Jasiukevičius’s chances of defeating Matijošaitis, who has led Kaunas since 2015, were slim.

Kalpokas said Jasiukevičius had considerable experience in communications, content creation and developing a personal brand. He was previously better known as “Praeities žvalgas”, travelling to military sites. He is now known as a military affairs expert and active supporter of Ukraine.

However, Kalpokas said some voters might consider the candidate’s activism and statements too radical.

Ukraine supporter challenges mayor over Russia links

Although the election is a municipal one, Kalpokas said it would be interesting to observe its geopolitical dimension and the contrast between Jasiukevičius and the current mayor.

“V. Matijošaitis was long criticised over Vičiūnai’s operations in Russia and his ambiguous position. On the one hand, there was considerable symbolic support for Ukraine in Kaunas, but at the same time the mayor was making money in Russia. On the other hand, we have one of the most prominent and strongest supporters of Ukraine, now being put forward by the conservatives,” he said.

Kalpokas said it remained unclear whether the campaign could be directed towards this issue, noting that Matijošaitis had successfully framed the mayoral contest around paving stones, stadiums and observation wheels.

In preparation for the mayoral election, Jasiukevičius has been sharing his ideas on social media. He has spoken about improving the city’s infrastructure, cheaper housing for young families and greater attention to senior citizens and local communities.

He has also criticised immigration policy and said that, if elected mayor, he would want Muslims praying in a mosque in central Kaunas to be moved somewhere more remote.

Among his earlier statements are criticism of LGBT people and the Istanbul Convention. Several years ago, he also shared arguments on Facebook that Vytautas Landsbergis, the honorary chairman of the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats, should not be granted the status of head of state.

Kalpokas said the issue of the Kaunas mosque had become almost a matter of national importance, with other politicians, including former mayor Andrius Kupčinskas, also discussing it. He said the topic was likely to remain prominent and that migration was a convenient issue for the conservative candidate.