Lithuania election: president rejects coalition government

Lithuania’s president Dalia Grybauskaite has vetoed a coalition government proposed by the Social Democrats party, led by Algirdas Butkevicius, after it won the most seats in parliamentary elections over the weekend, Reuters reported.

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Grybauskaite, who has 15 days to convene a new parliament and two weeks after that to name a prime minister, said she could not support the coalition government because it includes the Labor Party, which has been accused of buying votes, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. "A party which is suspected of gross violations in the election, which is suspected of false accounting and non-transparent activities cannot participate in the government's formation," the president said, according to Reuters.

According to Reuters:

Political commentator Arturas Racas said Butkevicius had three choices – to defy the president and risk confrontation, to go for a minority government that would seek support in parliament from the center-right or form a coalition with the conservatives.

“As a politician I respect the president’s opinion,” Butkevicius said today, according to BNS, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. “We will work with the president to seek the best options and don’t plan to be in conflict with her from day one.

Meanwhile, the Labor Party denies that voter fraud occurred, Reuters reported. "The principle of the presumption of innocence must be kept to," Labor party leader Viktor Uspaskich said, according to Reuters. "The will of the people must not be spat upon.”