Lithuania president names new PM

By Laura Sheeter
BBC News, Lithuania

Mr Balcytis (right) will find it hard to get a majority in parliament

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus has named a new prime minister, two weeks after the last PM resigned amid allegations of corruption.

He is the acting prime minister and former finance minister Zigmantas Balcytis, a member of the left-wing Social Democratic Party.

But it may be difficult for him to form a governing coalition which will have a majority in parliament.

Parliament now has a week to decide whether it approves the nomination.

Mr Adamkus said he hoped his choice would ensure true change and end the Baltic country's political crisis.

Talks fail

The three-party coalition that had been in government collapsed two weeks ago after the Labour Party, the largest party in parliament, walked out amid allegations of systematic corruption. Several scandals had led President Adamkus to declare he had no confidence in two ministers.

Rather than face a vote of confidence, Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas resigned and the government was dissolved.

Talks to form a grand coalition between left- and right-wing parties, which would have had a clear majority of parliament's 141 seats, failed at the start of this week.

So now, Zigmantas Balcytis, who is from the same party as the last prime minister, faces the task of forging a new left-wing coalition.

His party has already made a deal with two smaller groups. But they are still a long way off a majority and unless they make a deal with the Labour Party, which is still being investigated for corruption, it will be hard for them to make up the numbers.

However, whether a governing coalition including the Labour Party will be politically palatable is still an open question.