Savivaldybių tarybų ir merų rinkimai-2002: politinių partijų santykiai ir partinės sistemos raida
Municipal and Mayor Elections 2002: Relations Between the Political Parties and the Development of the Party System

Summary/Abstract: Municipal elections 2000 were treated as "starting elections" (after half a year Seimas' elections took place). These elections, on their part, can be called the "intermediate" ones (they took part approximately in the middle of the Seimas' cadency). Certainly, in both cases one could hardly find a better chance for the parties to check their "sports' form". This, however, is not the most important thing. These municipal elections, among all, are interesting because of the fact that they acted as a kind of a tester to the hypotheses the political scientists raised couple of years ago. The elections help clear out number of questions, first of all, they help better understand the relationship between the party system and the political parties. Are the voters still wondering from one party to another? Are the parties successful in keeping their electorate and "tempt" the one of the other parties? What effect do these processes have on the party system, and, should it react to the latter, what kind changes could one expect as a result? Finally, how smoothly do the "rules of game" between the parties develop themselves on the municipal level? In this article the author does not claim to make the all-embracing conclusions. What he does - he clears out the tendencies, which either should be confirmed or negated by the future events of the political life, first of all, the election to the Seimas that will take place in 2004. However, now it is already a proper time to assert that in Lithuania the voter remains a mobile one, every time inclined to alter his preferences and choices. For many parties it gives an opportunity to look for relevance. Rather good perspectives lie ahead for the newly established party structures. On the other hand, one may note that the "older" parties see no rush to let the "new" parties join their ranks. Due to this reason, the competition between the parties becomes more and more acute. In general, more or less the same parties seem to have the best perspectives to achieve success during the municipal elections, known as the "core" parties on the national level as well.

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