“Of course [this will continue] after elections, too. One of the president’s promises before he was elected was that he will not be just sitting in Vilnius and will travel to regions. (&) Will all 60 municipalities be visited during the term of office? Yes, we will accomplish this by 12 July because that was the promise,” the adviser told the radio station Žinių radijas on Tuesday.
Jansonas added that the president recently visited more municipalities compared with 2020, when there was the COVID-19 pandemic, or compared with 2021 and 2022.
Moreover, he stressed that all politicians and Nausėda’s direct competitors, who are criticising the president, are free to travel to rural areas and should have done so earlier than just a month remaining until the election.
As the 2024 presidential election campaign is gaining pace, other contenders claim that Nausėda is touring Lithuania not just to carry out his duties but as part of his election campaign. They argue that these visits are ultimately funded by taxpayers, which would constitute a violation of the Code on Elections.
Nausėda refuted these accusations by emphasising that issues of Lithuania’s rural areas have always had an important place in his agenda.
