Lithuanian Law Won’t Let Tony G Run for Prime Minister

Poker pro, businessman and politician Antanas Guoga, better known as Tony G, was dealt some bad news recently when he discovered that due to his dual citizenship, he would not be eligible to run for Prime Minister of his native Lithuania.

Guoga, who fled Lithuania to escape Soviet turmoil when he was 11 years old, settled in Australia, where he later became a citizen. He has since returned to his home country and been very active in improving life there.

But while the controversial poker pro was electedto serve as a member of European Parliament in 2014, that distinction won’t help him reach the highest levels of government in Lithuania.

“When we elect our political leaders, the Constitutional Court’s ruling of 1998 is in force, according to which only Lithuanian citizens can participate in the elections,” said Zenonas Vaigauskas, head of the Central Electoral Commission. “This ruling does not apply to the European Parliament and municipal elections, except for mayoral posts.”

Guoga told Lithuanian media that depriving dual citizenship candidates the option of running for Prime Minister made little sense, as they were in full compliance with the citizenship law of their country.

“We will not build a greater Lithuania and we will not bring Lithuanians back from around the world if we don’t adapt our legal system to today’s realities,” said Guoga. “Dual citizenship is no obstacle to representing Lithuania in the European Parliament…to being a minister or even prime minister. Why should it be an obstacle to being a member of the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament)?”

While Tony G has had an illustrious career as a poker pro, winning $4.8 million throughout his live tournament career, he has had even more success as a businessman. The 41-year-old owns stakes in several online businesses including PokerNews.com, and has launched his own gambling platform called TonyBet. If that wasn’t enough, he also recently added Tony Resorts to his empire, a four-star resort and amusement park in Anupriškės, Lithuania.

After his election into the European Parliament, the Lithuania Tribune revealed that Guoga had filed campaign forms which stated his net worth at $36 million, making him the wealthiest candidate in the election. That said, he donates his EU Parliament salary to charity, and has been very active in several other charitable causes.

Guoga was recently featured in the Politico 28, a web publication which highlights some of Europe’s most standout politicians.

The profile described Tony G as something of a hero to Lithuanians who have long waited for political outsiders to shake up the country’s government. Guoga has run his candidacy with the stated purpose of reforming the country’s stagnant economy.

“One percent growth is not OK, the country will be deleted,” he told Politico. “Lithuania made cuts but didn’t make the reforms Estonia did. We need to restart the computer on a fresh operating platform. If we want to catch up to Germany it means we have to be better than Germany.”

Although Guoga’s ambitions of becoming Prime Minister have been derailed, his party believes that if changes in campaign law are made, he will still be able to run against incumbent Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius in 2016.

“I could not say that this is it – Antanas will not run in parliamentary elections,” said Liberal Movement leader Eligijus Masiulis. We will talk to him and do everything that is needed. There can be various solutions.”

Guoga’s commitment to Lithuania is such that he has even entertained the idea of renouncing his Australian citizenship to be fully compliant with the law. “I really do not need that citizenship and I will solve this problem eventually,” said Guoga.

At the moment, however, he is not sure if he will go that route, due to the fact that the move would have negative consequences for his two daughters who live in Australia with their mother.


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