Adamkus brought rule-based leadership to Lithuanian politics

Valdas Adamkus helped shape Lithuania’s integration with the political West and brought a rule-based approach to public service, political scientist Mažvydas Jastramskis said in an interview with LRT Radio’s “Buvo nebėra” programme.

“He brought the expectation that the system should be transparent and the rules equal for everyone. The law and the system must work in politics, and no one is above them,” said Jastramskis, a political scientist at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science.

Adamkus, who had lived in the United States, was sworn in as the second president of restored independent Lithuania on February 26, 1998. The idea of him becoming president had surfaced years earlier: in 1989, journalist Stasys Arnašius reported after visiting Adamkus in Chicago that television viewers wanted to see the successful Lithuanian-American in the role.

Adamkus’s repeated visits to Lithuania in the years before the election prompted speculation about his political plans. He supported Romualdas Ozolas’s Lithuanian Centre Union in the 1996 parliamentary election and was associated with the party. Jastramskis said Adamkus’s distance from the largest parties helped signal political neutrality at a time when Lithuanian politics was dominated by the right-wing Homeland Union and the left-wing Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party.

His presidential candidacy faced a constitutional challenge because the Constitution requires candidates to have lived in Lithuania for the previous three years. Although Adamkus was registered in Šiauliai, the Supreme Court issued the final ruling in the dispute. The issue also became an argument used against him during the campaign.

The 1997–98 presidential election did not produce the expected contest between incumbent Algirdas Brazauskas and Vytautas Landsbergis. Instead, Adamkus faced political newcomer Artūras Paulauskas. Paulauskas, backed by Brazauskas after he withdrew from the race, came close to winning in the first round. Adamkus won the second round by 15,000 votes.

Jastramskis said Adamkus brought with him principles shaped by his experience in the United States, including meritocracy and valuing experience over connections or the distribution of influence. He also said Adamkus’s presidency moved away from the idea of a political “master” and towards leadership guided by the interests of the state.

Tags: Valdas Adamkus, Lithuanian politics, Lithuania