Rolandas Paksas

Rolandas Paksas ( Lithuanian: [rɔˈɫɐ̂ˑndɐs ˈpaːksɐs] ; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the sixth President of Lithuania from 2003 until his impeachment in April 2004. He previously served two terms as the Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001, and as Mayor of Vilnius from 1997 to 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001. He led Order and Justice from 2004 to 2016 and was a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2019.

A national aerobatics champion in the 1980s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Paksas founded a construction company, Restako. In 1997, he was elected to the Vilnius City Council for the centre-right Homeland Union and became mayor. In May 1999, Paksas was appointed Prime Minister but resigned five months later after a disagreement over privatisation. Paksas joined the Liberal Union of Lithuania (LLS) in 2000. The LLS won the 2000 election, and Paksas became Prime Minister again, but he left within seven months after another dispute over economic reforms.