“The commission of the Kėdainiai electoral district, which was tasked with examining complaints about the activities of political campaign participants who are candidates in this district, admitted that Viktoras Uspaskich bribed the voters by handing out coupons to the audience on stage during the Ice Cream Festival, which could be exchanged for portions of ice cream”, – the CEC stated in the response sent to Eltai .
“Also, the commission decided that V. Uspaskich, on his Facebook account, by promising a prize, gifts and offering followers his book “My diseases and enemies – my best teachers” violated the provision of the Election Code prohibiting bribery of voters,” added the representatives of the commission.
The decision adopted by the Kėdainiai electoral district also stated that the political advertisement of the Peace Coalition was hidden in the word “Peace” made from drones.
“It was established that the word “Peace” made from drones at the event was a hidden political advertisement of the Peace Coalition, which is putting up a list of candidates for the Seimas elections,” emphasized the CEC.
As ELTA announced, even before the ice cream festival, a resident appealed to the CEC, who asked to assess whether there were any violations of the Electoral Code norms at the event organized by the “Vikondas group” associated with the founder of the Labor Party. After the event, the CEC received another complaint, asking to assess whether the word “Peace” made from drones contains political advertising.
ELTA reminds that at the beginning of August, the Ice Cream Festival organized by “Vikonda group” was held in Kėdainiai. For many years, the holiday has been associated with its initiator, the founder of the Labor Party and V. Uspaskich, who temporarily returned to lead the political force. Therefore, the city event in Kėdainiai is often accompanied by discussions about illegal political advertising. The politician is a former shareholder of “Vikonda group”, now the main shareholder is V. Uspaskich’s ex-wife Jolanta Blazytė.
During the event, V. Uspaskich did not miss the opportunity and addressed the audience from the stage, emphasizing that the Ice Cream Festival symbolizes family and peace. During the event, the word “peace” was also arranged in the sky from drones.
The Ice Cream Festival has caught the attention of the CEC before – the last time the event was also held in the 2020 election year. Then V. Uspaskich invited residents to participate in the event on his Facebook account, and this invitation was investigated by the CEC for possible political advertising. After returning to the Labor Party, V. Uspaskich will lead the coalition list of three political forces to the Seimas. As the party announced last week, the Lithuanian Christian Democracy Party led by Seimas member Mindaugas Puidokas and the Žemaičiai Party led by Irena Stražinskaitė-Glinskienė will participate in the parliamentary elections together with the “workers”. The parties called themselves the “Peace Coalition”.
Seimas elections will be held on October 13 this year.
2024-09-02 18:11:31