Grubliauskas, who did not win the fourth seat of Klaipėda mayor: I am not saying “no” to next year’s elections

Delphi reminds that in 2015 V. Grubliauskas participated in the mayoral elections as a candidate of the Liberal Movement, in 2019 as a public representative of the election committee “Vytautas Grubliauskas and team”, and in 2023 as a candidate of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) representative.

– Since 2011, you have been working as the mayor of Klaipėda city, your third term will end soon. Until what day will you still be mayor?

– Until April 20 at 10 a.m., when the new council is sworn in.

– How will you remember these 12 years as mayor of Klaipėda?

– You know, you will have to remember a lot. It will be very difficult to remember, but it was an exceptionally interesting, meaningful time, full of events, works, decisions, tests, which, probably, was impossible to even imagine. How much has been experienced and survived during those 12 years – you need time to try to shake it in your mind, to remember. But in any case, I don’t regret a single day of these 12 years, because no matter how loud it sounds, I gave myself in the true sense of the word: my thoughts, my heart, experience, emotions, abilities, how many and what kind of them I have, precisely to my native for the city.

– With what mood will you have to leave the post of mayor on April 20?

– I would say that with very healthy, very rational, humanly understandable moods. This is a certain stage that you consciously perceive as a completed path that you have already walked. And regretting or grumbling about something is definitely not for me. On the other hand, I am well aware of the essence, meaning, and perhaps necessity of that change. So, there is really no crying, gnawing or holding back tears, other swallowed emotions. It’s life, it’s changes that are necessary, understandable, perceived. Although it is natural that the emotional state is really unconventional, because it has not been experienced yet. 12 years is a very long period of time to be the manager of one of the biggest cities in Lithuania. So far, no one has stayed in this position for longer, at least in Klaipėda.

– And what will you wish for the new mayor of Klaipėda, A. Vaitkas?

– I already wished during the last council meeting so impromptu, I think it is appropriate to repeat – love Klaipėda and cherish the people.

– What do you expect from A. Vaitkaus’ tenure as the mayor of Klaipėda as a Klaipėda citizen and a future member of the council?

– I will repeat what I have already said – I hope that he will really love Klaipėda and cherish the people. This includes those who will be with him in the council, those who will work in the administration, all Klaipėda residents. Regardless of who liked, who didn’t like, who voted for whom. All this is already history. I really hope that the belief in what was planned, the emotion and the feeling will not fail, but will only grow stronger. That the city will look ahead quite dynamically, but at the same time very responsibly, by putting together, predicting and planning all steps, actions and decisions. It is necessary to give all of oneself for the benefit of one’s hometown and to mobilize the townspeople not only with electoral battles, opinions, attitudes or promises, but with concrete works and actions, which is what at least the majority of Klaipėda residents expect from him.

– During the second round of mayoral elections Delphi the interviewed Klaipėda citizens, who cast their vote, seemed to divide the two candidates: the conservative Audrius Petrošius – the city candidate, and A. Vaitkus – the port man. Do you see such a difference when it comes to the interests of the new mayor A. Vaitkaus that he will only be the mayor of port affairs?

– The citizens of Klaipėda have already chosen, so there is no need to question who named and evaluated who in the election battles, that is already history. I have always been in favor of keeping the eternal debate, whether a city in a port or a port in a city, as a good-natured debate. We really need to talk about all the decisions that would bring the port closer to the city, decisions that seek unity and make it happen. I think that both a port without a city and a city without a port would be really difficult to imagine their future.

And it is very difficult to imagine the future without being together. So I would not talk about who is associated with whom, who seems to represent whom, but about the fact that steps, decisions and all work should be focused on denying pre-formed stereotypes, as if someone represents someone. Only one thing is clear – the new mayor must represent the interests of the citizens. If those interests do not always coincide with the interests of the port, compromises must be sought, they can always be found.

– Now I would like to turn the conversation about election numbers. In 2015, you collected 76 percent of the votes in the second round of the elections, in 2019 – 55 percent. And the result of this election is the fifth place in the first round with about 8 percent of the votes. How would you explain these numbers and the mood of the voters?

– Why not explain these numbers now? There are such statistics, such numbers, they must be regarded as fact. The fact that I had no plans to continue my term as mayor for 3.5 years of this term was apparently one of the decisive factors. It was very difficult to return to those political competitions and join the ranks of those who talked about it from the first day, and prepared for it, created strategies, participated. This is probably one of the most important things.

On the other hand, that twisted narrative that I ran away from something, ran to something, – it was very prominent, I would even say – tended to be thickened. Although I did not escape from anything as I was a free politician without any political party ticket in my pocket. That narrative was pretty hard to disprove, too. Apparently, all these factors contributed to such a result, which, although expected, made the curve of the political career a little sharper and the descent steeper.

– And you yourself say that you did not think for the whole term that you would seek another one. Maybe you can explain what led to such reasons for your decision?

– It was determined by many factors. First of all, throughout this term I really thought that Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, which has strong positions in the country, and this election especially highlighted and showed it, is not represented in the Klaipėda City Council. As I said, this is a loss not only for LSDP, but also Klaipėda. I personally really missed the center-left representative council. This was one of the reasons, especially when communicating and seeing the rather active and usually successful performance of social democratic mayors in Lithuania.

This was also one of the inspirations that helped me make such a decision, which to many people did not seem fully motivated, understandable or reasoned, but it was enough for me. On the other hand, I really think that I have the right to choose, both in terms of political parties, certain ideological positions of that party, results in the context of Lithuanian self-government, acting mayors, and certain values, which, in my deep conviction, are not far from common human values . All these circumstances led to this direction of choice.

– After assessing the LSDP results in the context of the whole of Lithuania, as well as the situation in big cities, – besides the fact that Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda have LSDP representatives in the council, the results of the mayors in them do not please the social demos. So, looking at your personal election results, was it not a mistake to change your mind that you will no longer seek another term, to seek it under the banner of LSDP?

– I said all the time and I can repeat that my primary goal was not a personal political ambition to realize it in the fourth term of the mayor, but first of all to do everything so that the faction of the LSDP party appears in the Klaipėda City Council. It was a priority. And, as you can see (in addition to V. Grubliauskas, two more LSDP representatives will work in the Klaipėda City Council – ed.), I implemented it together with my colleagues. From the 0 that have been in this term to the three councilors that will be in the new council, that ambition and part of my ambition has been achieved quite clearly. And this is a fact. Another thing, when it comes to big cities and LSDP mayors, I wouldn’t say that the Social Democrats have lost something. . It’s just that the number of mayors in big cities hasn’t filled yet, but I think it’s a process that needs some more time. On the other hand, the factions in the councils of the big cities are a kind of application for the future. It is important to use it correctly and rationally.

– Application for the future as a stronger force in this municipality? Specifically in the city of Klaipėda, assuming that the next mayor here will be a representative of LSDP?

– A line going up would mean that the time will probably come. And, I believe that the time will come when the big cities of Lithuania will not become a kind of white spot on the map of Lithuanian mayors. And that the time will come when we will see social democratic mayors not only in smaller towns and districts, but also in big cities. It probably needs a little more time.

– Mr. Grubliauskas, after this term, when you will be the representative of LSDP in the council, would you seek the post of mayor of Klaipėda city again in the next elections?

“You know, that’s a question I’ve never even asked myself, at least not lately.” I can truly say that I can’t imagine such an ambition today, and I can’t imagine that it would arise four years from now either. . Not really. I think that age should not be the deciding factor here, but other arguments and motives: the trends and criteria for the choices of future mayors in Klaipėda. Really, at least today, I can’t imagine myself going back to the same (river – author’s post), when I’ve already withdrawn and come to terms with it.

– I want to return to April 20 once again. You are one of the three LSDP representatives in the Klaipėda City Council. How do you imagine this work and maybe the contours of the ruling coalition are becoming clear? Will you be in the opposition or the ruling majority?

– There is still time until April 20. I said from the beginning that when it comes to the works that have been started a lot, some are very close to the end, but some time is still needed to finish, of course, being in the ruling majority, the chances of being in that process until the end are much higher. Another thing is that the opposition, whether it is in the municipality or at a higher level, is a position that does not require any invitation, we can find ourselves there without an invitation, the path is quite simple. Becoming a member of the majority, if you do not form it, already depends on the invitation and your decision. In this case, I think the prospect is quite real to participate in the majority. There were definitely some discussions and speeches.

I think the final decisions will come out next week. If we were to talk about working in the future council, I would not see a very big difference in which position you work – in the majority or in the opposition. It is important that your knowledge, experience, experiences and insights serve the interest of your hometown. Whether you are on one side or the other, you will not act against Klaipėda’s interest. It’s just that, being in the majority, there are more opportunities and tools to implement it, it shouldn’t be wrapped in cotton wool. Well, a place is always free in the opposition.

– Three elections will be held next year: presidential, European Parliament (EP) and Seimas. You are already under the party flag again. Tell me, do you happen to have plans to appear on any of these ballots?

– The question is good. . How to answer this diplomatically… Since I am a member of a solid, largest and today’s most popular party, in any case, I am a member of this party, so in accordance with the established procedures, statute regulations and such, I would probably like to separate two things – the perspectives that I see , depending on how they will be compatible with the co-party provision.

– So what are your prospects, what do you think?

– I think that I am ready to use the available knowledge and potential in the best way, which is needed in this case for the organization of which I am a member. If she sees my potential, my opportunities, of course, the benefits primarily for Lithuania, when it comes to those three positions, if she sees my, how to say here, exploitation of opportunities in the national context for Lithuania, I would definitely not run away from it. But decisions are no longer individual. This is not the case, some committee, having an ambition in self-government. Here is a slightly different league, a different political season and a different genre of play.

– If the party offered to participate in any of the three elections that will be held next year, you automatically wouldn’t you say no?

– I try to never say “no” if there is an opportunity to say “yes”. I certainly have experience, at least when it comes to Seimas elections, I have been a member of the Seimas for almost two terms, I certainly have experience and understanding. Moreover, knowledge and practice, experience in self-government during 12 years in the position of mayor – is also a certain asset that, I think, could be used. I’d say I’m ready to combine ammunition with ambition, but that’s where the party I’m a part of should be involved.