LITHUANIA'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MAY SHIFT FROM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000254 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2019 TAGS: PGOV LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MAY SHIFT FROM QUIET PATH TO LOW ROAD REF: VILNIUS 144 Classified By: Ambassador John A. Cloud for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Lithuania's presidential election campaign remains quiet, with frontrunner Dalia Grybauskaite, currently on leave from her position as European Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget, still far ahead of the six other candidates in the polls. Grybauskaite has thus far deflected rumors of her homosexuality and past cooperation with the KGB. But we have heard from a senior official that media sources plan to present photos disputing her claims in the days remaining before the May 17 election. Lithuania has a reputation as a homophobic country, but nobody knows what effect publication of such photos would have on Grybauskaite's chances. End summary. ¶2. (U) Seven candidates are running to succeed Valdas Adamkus as president of Lithuania for a five-year term: Grybauskaite, an independent who has been endorsed by several parties, including the Conservatives; Social Democratic Party leader Algirdas Butkevicius; Order and Justice Party candidate Valentinas Mazuronis; former Peasants' National Union party leader Kazimira Prunskiene; Labor Party candidate Loreta Grauziniene; Lithuanian Polish Electoral Action party leader Valdemar Tomasevski; and retired Brig. Gen. Ceslovas Jezerskas, running as an independent though he is a member of the Order and Justice Party. Campaigning has been quiet, with Grybauskaite getting by far the most media attention. ¶3. (U) According to polling done April 22-28, when voters were asked "Which of these presidential candidates would you vote for on May 17?" 52.8 percent chose Grybauskaite. Butkevicius had 9.4 percent support, and Prunskiene had 5.7 percent. All other candidates drew less than 5 percent. Grybauskaite's numbers had dropped about 10 percent since a March poll by the same company, but Butkevicius gained only 4 percent. From March to April, the percentage of undecided voters jumped from 10 to 19 percent. (Note: in our experience, Lithuanian polls, despite their statistical rigor, are sometimes wildly wrong.) Winning in the first round means more than 50 percent -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) Because of her commanding lead in opinion polls, getting out the vote may be more important to Grybauskaite's campaign than getting out her message. To win in the first round, a candidate needs a majority of votes cast if voter turnout is above 50 percent. If turnout is below 50 percent, a candidate must receive votes equal to one-third of Lithuania's 2.67 million registered voters. Thus, if turnout were 50 percent plus one voter, a candidate could win in the first round with a majority of votes cast, or just over 25 percent of the number of voters registered. But if turnout were 50 percent minus one voter, a candidate would need about 67 percent of the votes cast, or one-third of the number of voters registered, to win in the first round. ¶5. (U) In the first round of parliamentary elections in October 2008, voter turnout was about 48 percent. In the first round of the 2004 presidential election, it was also 48 percent, climbing to 52 percent in the second round. So Grybauskaite, if her large lead in the polls holds up, could benefit even by encouraging supporters of her opponents to go to vote against her, since a heavier turnout could help her avoid a second round of voting, where results have historically been less predictable. ¶6. (U) "Because of the economic depression, many of our pensioners will go to work in their vegetable gardens on election day rather than vote," said Vladas Gaidys, director of the Vilmorus polling company. "Last year, voters forgot about this part of our economy. This year, they're not forgetting" their vegetable gardens, because money is tight for so many people. ¶7. (U) Elections for the European Parliament, which are done entirely by party list in Lithuania, are scheduled for June 7, concurrent with a second round, if necessary, in the presidential election. Voter interest in those elections is low, so having a second round of presidential voting could increase turnout and benefit parties whose presidential candidate reached the runoff round. The Conservatives, who support Grybauskaite, and the Social Democrats, whose leader Butkevicius is second in opinion polls, are the largest parties. Will Grybauskaite's past catch up with her? -------------- ¶8. (C) In addition to the usual ups and downs of any VILNIUS 00000254 002 OF 002 campaign, there are two things that could significantly damage Grybauskaite's chances for winning: her links to the Communist Party (before independence),and allegations that she is a lesbian. ¶9. (U) Ties to communism have not stopped others from attaining high office here, but there is certainly a segment of society that views such ties as disqualifying. Grybauskaite was a member of the Communist Party from 1977 until 1989. She worked at the Communist Party school in Vilnius from 1983 to 1990. Fortunately for Grybauskaite, she has already received the backing of Lithuania's most ardent communist-bashers: MEP Vytautas Landsbergis, Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene, and others have publicly backed Grybauskaite. Whether this will effectively defuse the issue remains to be seen. ¶10. (C) The allegations of her homosexuality are another matter. Lithuania is the only country in the EU to have refused permits for the European Commission's "Tolerance Truck" to set up and promote tolerance of minorities, including homosexuals. The public largely supported the refusals. ¶11. (C) Almost as soon as she announced her candidacy in late February, Grybauskaite was asked whether she was a lesbian. She said she was not, and the issue, which many had expected to play a large role in the campaign against her, gained little traction. But we have been told by a senior government official that someone in the media claimed to him to have photographic "evidence." At a late April campaign event, Grybauskaite said she had heard rumors of a compromising videotape: "I know about that. I have been threatened for two years. I was advised not even to dream about running for president. There are various rumors spread among journalists, and I consider this just an attempt to apply psychological pressure.... I understand that and am psychologically ready for that. The election will show whether people are able to tell the difference between truth and lies." ¶12. (C) Gaidys, whose polls documented Grybauskaite's popularity even before she announced her candidacy, said that her popularity goes against all tradition in Lithuania. "She's a woman, maybe a lesbian, a teacher from the Communist Party school. There are rumors that she is maybe not Lithuanian, but maybe Jewish. She has the support of the Conservative Party. She never says, 'In the future, we will live better.' This woman has all possible stigmas. Yet all demographic and social groups like her: the young, the old, the educated, the uneducated, all party groups. It's so unusual that I'm a little bit afraid of this phenomenon. Is it real?" ¶13. (U) Gaidys added that Grybauskaite's popularity is inversely related to Lithuanians' confidence index. As the country lost its optimistic outlook, Grybauskaite's popularity rose. "Her popularity is in strong connection to economic expectations," Gaidys said. ¶14. (C) Comment: Political polling often seems to indicate that the farther a person is from actually being involved in politics, the more popular they are. Thus, Grybauskaite's long residence in Brussels helped her. In our view, the decline in her polling numbers is less a function of allegations about her personal life, than of her becoming more familiar to voters. Her popularity is still unmatched with just over a week to go before the first round. End comment. CLOUD