Presidential ballot spurs on European election in Lithuania

Spurred on by a simultaneous presidential election, Lithuanians were voting briskly in their first ever elections for the European parliament on Sunday.

"Preliminary data shows that some 5.4 percent of the voters came to polling stations by 10 am and I would expect that turnout in the elections will be higher than 50 percent," election commission head Zenonas Vaigauskas said.

Two hundred and forty-one candidates from 12 parties are vying for 13 seats in European parliament.

The country's top politicians also faced off in an early presidential election sparked when the Baltic state became the first European country to impeach its head of state, Rolandas Paksas, two months ago.

Opinion polls indicate that the Labour Party, established only last year and headed by populist Russian-born millionaire parliamentarian Viktor Uspaskich, is favourite and could win up to 20 percent of the vote in the EU polls.

The ruling Social Democrats could win 14.2 percent and the Liberal Democrat party, headed by Paksas would gain 8.8 percent, according to the poll by Spinter Tyrimai.

"It is obvious that presidential elections are more important for our voters," Vaigauskas said. "European Union issues are much more complicated and they first think about local issues."

Julius Labanauskas, a 52-year-old bus driver, said he would be focusing on the presidential race.

"I have heard that there will be some 800 parliamentarians in Brussels, so what could our 13 do there," he said. "It is more important for me who will become a president, he will have real power."

Results from the European Parliament elections are due to be released late on Sunday.