Rolandas Paksas
| Rolandas Paksas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 6th President of Lithuania | |
|
In office 26 February 2003 – 6 April 2004 |
|
| Prime Minister | Algirdas Brazauskas |
| Preceded by | Valdas Adamkus |
| Succeeded by | Valdas Adamkus |
| 8th Prime Minister of Lithuania | |
|
In office 26 October 2000 – 20 June 2001 |
|
| President | Valdas Adamkus |
| Preceded by | Andrius Kubilius |
| Succeeded by | Eugenijus Gentvilas (Acting) |
|
In office 18 May 1999 – 27 October 1999 |
|
| President | Valdas Adamkus |
| Preceded by | Irena Degutienė (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Irena Degutienė (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
10 June 1956 Telšiai, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party |
Communist Party (Before 1989) Democratic Labour Party (1989–1995) Homeland Union (1995–2000) Liberal Union (2000–2002) Order and Justice (2002–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Laima Paksienė |
| Alma mater |
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Leningrad Civil Aviation Academy |
Rolandas Paksas ([rɔˈɫɐ̂ˑn̪d̪ɐs̪ ˈpäːk̪s̪ɐs̪]; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who was President of Lithuania from 2003 to 2004. He was previously Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001, and he also served as Mayor of Vilnius from 1997 to 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001. He has led Order and Justice since 2004 and has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2009.
A national aerobatics champion in the 1980s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Paksas founded a construction company, Restako. In 1997, he was elected to Vilnius City Council for the centre-right Homeland Union and became mayor. In May 1999, Paksas was appointed Prime Minister, but resigned five months later after a disagreement over privatisation. Paksas joined the Liberal Union of Lithuania (LLS) in 2000. The LLS won the 2000 election, and Paksas became PM again, but he left within seven months after another dispute over economic reforms.
In 2002, Paksas founded the Liberal Democratic Party, and ran for the presidency, winning the run-off against incumbent Valdas Adamkus in January 2003. It emerged that he had granted citizenship to a major campaign donor, leading to his impeachment and removal from office in April 2004. He was the first European head of state to have been impeached. Barred from the Seimas, Paksas was elected to the European Parliament in 2009, while leading his party, now called Order and Justice (TT). His lifetime ban from the Seimas was ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights in 2011.
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