„A good day in every sense. I have voted, and I strongly encourage people to come and vote. Don't give in to political apathy. Some people would like you to give up. Still, I think we do not have the luxury of being indifferent because if we do not vote, other people will vote, different people will be elected, and then we will have to listen again to the fact that if you do not like something, vote in 2028.
This should not be the case, and I very much hope for an active participation of the people, a much higher involvement of the people than was the case in the European Parliament elections,“ said Nausėda, referring to the words of Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė a few years ago. The President was asked to whom he cast his vote.
„I voted for the authorities to work together and not against each other, for the problems of the Lithuanian people to be solved, not the problems created by the political forces themselves, for less arrogance, for less mutual confrontation and sometimes even for the excessive pettiness that has existed in our politics in recent years,“ Nausėda said.
When journalists asked whether this statement meant that he did not vote for the Conservatives, the Head of State himself answered with a question. „And why did you decide that such a trait characterises this particular force?“ – smiled the President.
Nausėda: the Conservatives must be lying down and getting up thinking about me
Just before the elections, Nausėda invited the leaders of all parliamentary parties to Daukantas Square Palace.
Last Monday, the chair of the Social Democrats, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, visited him; on Wednesday, the leader of the Peasants, Ramūnas Karbauskis; on Thursday, the leader of the Democrats, Saulius Skvernelis; on Friday, the leader of the Liberals, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen; and on Monday, the leader of the Freedom Party, Aušrinė Armonaitė, and the leader of the Party of Lithuanian Regions, Jonas Pinskus.
The only one who was not invited to discuss political issues and the possible puzzles of the future governing coalition was the leader of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis.
Conservatives did not hide their anger at the Head of State's decision and asked where his equality with all parliamentary political forces was. Has the President's invitation to the Conservatives lost its way?
„No, it has not lost its way. This party lies down and gets up thinking about me, so sometimes it even gave the impression that they had forgotten that the presidential elections were over; they lost them crushingly. We now have parliamentary elections in which the President is not participating.
Almost every day, I have received inquiries, wonderings, exhortations, and letters, and, in fact, I have come to the conclusion that everything has been said. If we met, I would not hear anything new. So, I decided to save time,“ Nausėda said.
The President said he did not think that by inviting only the Conservatives, he was doing the wrong thing.
According to the Chief Electoral Commission (VRK), all voters can cast their vote at any early voting site, regardless of where they have declared their place of residence.
From 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., voters will be able to vote in all 60 municipal buildings and additional polling stations.
Early voting is available to voters who cannot get to their polling stations the following Sunday.
