Lithuania presidential runoff pits novice against ex-minister as PM quits

An economist and political novice, Gitanas Nauseda, took the lead in the first round of Lithuania's presidential election on Sunday and will face Ingrida Simonyte, a conservative ex-finance minister, in a May 26 runoff set to focus on inequality and poverty in the Baltic eurozone state.

Centre-left Premier Saulius Skvernelis vowed to quit in July after he was eliminated from the runoff.

Conceding that "the failure to get into the second round is an assessment of me as a politician", Skvernelis told public broadcaster LRT that he would tender his resignation.

Nauseda, promising to seek the political middle-ground and build a welfare state, scored 31.07 per cent of the vote, according to near complete official results.

"I want to thank all the people who took to their hearts our message that we want a welfare state in Lithuania and we want more political peace," Nauseda told reporters in Vilnius.

The 54-year-old is seeking to bridge the growing rich-poor divide in the former Soviet ...