Exit polls Sunday showed that that center-left, socialist democratic government in Lithuania has faltered, leaving the door open for a conservative opposition or populist bloc to unseat the ruling party:

“(The poll) showed the conservative Homeland Union winning 21 percent of the vote, and two allied populist parties – led by the ex-president Rolandas Paksas and the Russian-born businessman Viktor Uspaskich – mustering a combined 25 percent.


Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas’s Social Democrats received 14 percent of the vote, while their four partners in the coalition government failed to break the 5 percent barrier to remain in Parliament, according to the survey by the Rait pollster.


The final result was unclear because the survey only included the party list vote, which covers 70 of the 141 seats in Parliament. The remaining 71 seats are decided in individual races in single-mandate constituencies, many of which will require a runoff on Oct. 26.”

After a merger earlier this year with the Lithuanian Nationalists Union and the Lithuanian Christian Democrats, the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats party boasted more than 18,000 members, making it the country’s largest party.