LITHUANIA:Centre-left parties were set to win Lithuania's final-round parliamentary election yesterday thanks to voter anger over spending cuts, probably spelling the end for a conservative government praised abroad as a model of austerity.
Labour and the Social Democratic Party, which won 34 of 141 seats in a first round two weeks ago, have a good chance of winning enough of the 67 remaining seats up for grabs to form a coalition, according to analysts.
The two parties have promised to raise the minimum wage, shift the tax burden towards the better off and postpone the adoption of the euro. Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius came third in the first round and has only a slim chance of retaining power.