Lithuania, a country where clan democracy has won: The struggle for comfortable spoils

The article portrays Lithuania as a country where “clan democracy” has prevailed, with closed groups competing for a limited number of comfortable positions. It says this emerging elite comes not from business or science, but from clans and small factions whose members seek a good life without responsibility, preferably paid for by others.

The supply of such comfortable posts is limited, while competition is fierce. The article points to the selection of three independent board members for Lithuanian Airports as an example. Julija Abromavičienė, Oleksandr Laneckij and Mantas Šukevičius won the positions from a field of 67 candidates, according to a Lithuanian Airports press release.

The piece presents the contest as evidence of how difficult it is to enter these closed circles from outside. It describes their members as advancing shoulder to shoulder while also fighting one another for access to what it calls the “more simple thing” of a secure, comfortable life.

Seimas member Algirdas Sysas is quoted as angry about the growing number of highly paid positions and institutions whose usefulness he questions. The article also asks what became of a commission created under Lithuania’s first government to reduce bureaucracy, although the supplied text ends before answering that question.

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More and more highly paid positions and institutions whose benefits are questionable.