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Journalism of Courage
VILNIUS, January 5: Lithuanian-American Valdas Adamkus formally claimed victory today over rival Arturas Paulauskas in Lithuania’s closely-fought presidential election runoff.
"I am very happy about this victory," Adamkus told reporters after preliminary final election results gave him a wafer-thin win of 49.88 per cent against 49.31 per cent for Paulauskas. Political commentators have predicted the race to lead the former Soviet Republic into the next century would be tight but no one had expected that it would come down to virtually the last votes. Adamkus, 71, had portrayed himself as a man of worldly experience who could help guide the Baltic state in its relations with the west. Paulauskas, 44, had said he was the standard-bearer for the next generation.
Both men benefited from being political novices untainted by past scandals or battles.
