Lithuania's parties agree to form coalition govt

RIGA - Lithuania's three political parties on Tuesday agreed to form a coalition government, one day after the final results of the October parliamentary elections were announced.

Under the agreement signed by heads of the Social Democrats, the Labor Party and the Order and Justice Party, Social Democrat leader Algirdas Butkevicius would become the new prime minister.

The Social Democrats will hold seven ministerial posts, while Labor holds five and the Order and Justice Party holds two.

After two rounds of parliamentary elections on Oct 14 and 28, the Social Democrats won 38 seats, Labor 29 and the Order and Justice Party 11 in the 141-seat Seimas.

The new government is awaiting the final approval of President Dalia Grybauskaite, who said last week that the Labor Party should not be part of the next government given that prosecutors and election officials have accused party leaders of buying votes.