Center-right party holds Lithuania lead

VILNIUS, Lithuania, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Lithuania's center-right political opposition held a slender lead in early parliamentary voting returns, officials said Monday.

With more than 50 percent of the vote counted, former prime minister Andrius Kubilius's Homeland Union party had gathered the most votes but not enough to govern without coalition partners, Euronews.net reported.

The biggest surprise has been the unexpected success of former TV game show host Arunas Valinskas' National Resurrection party, which was running second, pushing former Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas' Law and Order party into third place, the Web site said.

A referendum to extend the life of the country's aging Ignalina nuclear power generation plant, however, appeared to be heading for defeat. That will please the European Union, which says the Chernobyl-style facility is dangerously outdated.

But critics say its mothballing will make Lithuania dangerously dependent on Russian oil and gas supplies, Euronews.net reported.