Artūras Zuokas

Artūras Zuokas ( born February 21, 1968 in Kaunas) is a Lithuanian politician, journalist and entrepreneur, mayor of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. On 31 May 2003, he is chairman of the newly formed Lithuanian Liberal and Center Union.

Work as a journalist

1986 closed Artūras Zuokas training Electrician with the Abitur at the Technical Vocational School Jonava from. In 1989 he founded the monthly magazine "Homo Sovieticus " and was its executive editor. 1990-1991 he worked as a reporter for the daily newspaper " Respublika " and worked as a freelance journalist and the " Independent Television News Ltd. " In the crisis areas in Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ossetia. In 1992 he founded in Vilnius, the news agency " Baltijos naujienų AGENTÚRA ". 1992-1994 Artūras Zuokas was a journalist of " Worldwide Television News " and correspondent for political news in Moscow, Nagorno-Karabakh, Chechnya and Abkhazia. In 1998, he completed his journalism studies at the University of Vilnius.

Political career

His entry into the political career was on its activities to the Rotary Club in Vilnius, about which he was welcomed into the campaign staff of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus for the 1998 presidential elections. As a result, a steep climb, the (LLS ) made ​​him in the wake of the party entrance of Rolandas Paksas in the Liberal Union in December 1999, one of the deputy party chairman of the LLS began. As a close confidant of Paksas he organized the successful election campaign of the LLS to the parliamentary elections of 2000. Succeeding Paksas he was elected with 32 years to the then world's youngest mayor of a capital city in November 2000.

As a result, he made his mark as a dynamic, business-oriented mayor and benefited from the general economic recovery in the country, which focused particularly on the capital. He was, after emerging from Paksas from the LLS in February 2002, the hopes of the party and after its merger with the Center Union and the Modern Christian on May 31, 2003 Chairman of the newly formed Union of Liberal and Centre ( Liberalų ir centro sąjunga, LiCS ).

At this time threw first inconsistencies shadow on his public image. After the local elections in December 2002, the Social Democrat Gediminas PAVIRŽIS was elected on 9 April 2003 as the new mayor initially planned Zuokas with the support of two defectors from the Polish Electoral Action this option to undo and to be free to choose again for mayor. But at the crucial council meeting lacked Zuokas unexpectedly the voice of his friend's party Vilmantas Drema. Zuokas was then seven weeks later still re-elected on 25 June 2003 with 26 of 51 votes for mayor of Vilnius after a court had declared the election of PAVIRŽIS invalid. For the dubious events surrounding the failed first election in May 2003, Zuokas had to stand trial for alleged vote buying.

Zuokas led his office continued anyway and was also elected as party chairman again in February 2005. However, the crucial vote, and the positioning of the two candidates ( 651 votes for Zuokas, 442 for Gintaras Steponavičius ) prepared the subsequent party split. In May 2005, there were rumors Zuokas 2001-2003 've received in the black bookkeeping one of the largest construction companies in Vilnius, the " Rubicon Group " been on the list of recipients of bribes and payments in the millions. As part of the prosecutor's investigations Zuokas went already in April 2005 unannounced "Business trip" to Warsaw, probably to escape the clutches of the prosecutor, and let in the following years as Chairman of the LiCS rest (June 6 - July 12, 2005 ). However, he denied the allegations always.

His adherence to the post of party chairman of LiCS led in the course of 2005 to split the party. After 2005, leading members of the party from the party were expelled in July this founded in October 2005, the Liberal Movement ( Lietuvos Respublikos liberalų Sąjūdis, LRLS ). End of 2005, a commission of the Lithuanian Parliament came to the conclusion Zuokas was listed on the list of recipients of bribes under the pseudonym abonentas. Trying to select it in the sequence from the office of mayor, but failed in January 2006.

In the local elections in February 2007, the LiCS received 16% of the vote and 9 of the 51 seats in the city of Vilnius advice. This time again the lengthy coalition negotiations resulted in a new majority in the Vilnius City Council, the Juozas Imbrasas elected to succeed Zuokas ' as new mayor on April 15, 2007. Zuokas was then until November 2008 ordinary member of the City Council.

The process for buying votes was taken up again after several acquittals on technicalities in 2007 and Zuokas on 20 March 2008 along with two businessmen ( including the head of the firm Rubicon ) sentenced to a fine of 12,500 litas (good 3,600 euros ) for attempted bribery. Contrast Zuokas went well in appeal as the prosecutor who actually speaks of successful bribery, while Zuokas maintained his innocence.

After the parliamentary elections in Lithuania in October 2008 Zuokas became a member of the Lithuanian Parliament, but he narrowly failed in the second ballot for a direct mandate in Vilnius. His party Liberalų ir centro sąjunga received a total of eight seats in the Seimas, is part of the ruling coalition of center-right parties, led by the Conservatives and now governed together with the LRLS. Zuokas even though a ministerial office was granted.

Since April 19, 2011 Zuokas is again Mayor of Vilnius.

Trivia

Others

Artūras Zuokas is married to Agnė Zuokienė. They have three children together.