Lithuanian Liberal Movement elects new leader

Remigijus Simasius, mayor of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, was elected on Saturday to lead Lithuania's Liberal Movement which has been shaken by a corruption scandal.

The opposition party held an extraordinary congress on Saturday to elect its new leader, after the resignation of former leader Eligijus Masiulis due to bribery allegations in May.

Simasius, who was acting leader of the party for the past month, was elected in the second round, beating Eugenijus Gentvilas, leader of the Liberal Movement in the parliament, by 378 votes against 326.

The new leader of the Liberal Movement said he will seek to renew and unite the party and increase its transparency as well. With less than four months before the parliamentary elections, Simasius urged the party fellows to regain people's trust in liberals.

"We're strong and united. We don't conceal, we don't hide, we don't lie," Simasius told the movement's congress in his speech.

He said the party has to increase its moral standards. "There will be zero tolerance for shadow and corruption in our party," said the new leader.

Before the congress, Simasius admitted to the local media that corruption allegations had shaken the core strength of the party -- the idea of transparent and sincere politics.

Nevertheless, Simasius expects the party to win more votes in the upcoming elections, more than the 12 seats it has currently in the 141-seat parliament.

"If these goals are not achieved, it's natural that the leader of the party has to take personal responsibility," Simasius told journalists after the congress.

Before the bribery investigation against Masiulis, the Liberal Movement was the second most popular party after the ruling social democrats, according to a survey from Spinter tyrimai.

The party's popularity has decreased from 16 percent to 7 percent after the corruption allegations emerged, showed the survey. Endit