Stasys Jakeliūnas, who has entered the European Parliament with the Lithuanian Peasant and Green Union (LVŽS) list, says that he has received an invitation from the Party of the Regions to be a candidate for the Seimas elections. Still, he has not yet made up his mind about it.
„I don't rule out the possibility – there have been preliminary discussions with the Lithuanian Party of the Regions, and now they are preparing for the elections, but I don't know. I am considering it, but I haven't made a decision yet. I think it will be a question of the next few weeks“, Jakeliūnas told Elta.
„I was in the Seimas, I chaired the committee, we did some work, (...) if there were opportunities for more serious work, the motivation would be greater. But if I were in the Seimas, I am not too tempted by the role of an extra,“ the politician added.
Bronis Ropė, another politician who entered the European Parliament with the Peasant, has not decided whether to participate in the Seimas elections.
„I have offers from the Peasants, but I haven't decided yet; I'm thinking about what to do here. Maybe someone else will offer some other proposals“, Ropė told Elta.
„The other thing is that I am no longer the same age and health, but I can no longer devote as much time and energy as I used to devote to work when I was young. Now I can't do that. And it is also unfair to make big commitments and not be able to fulfil them,“ he said.
Liudas Mažylis, the representative of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) in the EP, confirms that he will participate in the party's internal ranking to draw up the list for the Seimas elections. However, he is unsure whether he will run for a parliamentary seat.
„As some chapters nominated me, I agree to participate in the ranking. This is my decision at the moment, and then I will have to decide what to do after that, probably regardless of whether I am high or low on the list,“ said Mažylis, adding that there are other areas of interest to him.
„I have considered academic work before – maybe I would like to teach again; I have thought about writing books – I also wrote about a book a year ago when I was an MEP. Of course, there are still many important documents for the country that have not yet been discovered,“ the MEP joked.
On Tuesday, Olekas, a Social Democrat not re-elected to the European Parliament for a second term, also told Elta that he intends to return to national politics. The politician said he had already given his party his consent to be a candidate in the autumn parliamentary elections.
Two MEPs did not participate in the fight for another term in the EP this year.
Viktor Uspaskich, the leader of the Labours' Party, did not take part in this year's EP elections after the European Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into his activities in the European Parliament in the spring. Nevertheless, the politician says he has no other plans and is on holiday in Europe with his family.
„I'm in a good mood and travelling around the old European continent with my family. That's it, there are no plans at the moment“, Uspaskich told Elta.
As previously reported, in April, the Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FNTT) announced that the Labour Party's headquarters searches were related to a pre-trial investigation into the illegal acquisition of more than EUR 500,000 in EU budget funds. The funds are suspected to have been embezzled without performing or imitating the functions of MEPs' assistants. The investigation concerns a person who acted as an adviser to an MEP.
Following the searches of the party's headquarters, the founder of the political force and MEP Uspaskich suspended his membership in the Labours' Party.
Conservative candidate Aušra Seibutytė (formerly Maldeikienė) was also not re-elected in the EP elections that ended on Sunday. However, the politician said in the spring of 2019 that she planned to retire after her term as an MEP.
The Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats won the most seats in the European Parliament elections that ended on Sunday. The Conservatives managed to keep 3 of their representatives in the European Parliament. The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) came second. The left-wing political force won 2 seats. The Lithuanian Peasants' and Greens' Union (LVŽS), the Freedom Party, the Democratic Union In the Name of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Polish Electoral Action-Christian Families Union (LLRA-KŠS), the Union of Nation and Justice (centrists, nationalists) and the Liberal Movement each won one seat.
