Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has formally submitted the nomination of Gintautas Paluckas, a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), to the parliament (Seimas) for the position of prime minister, 

Paluckas, 45, was nominated after the LSDP won last month's parliamentary elections, securing 52 seats in the 141-seat chamber. This decision came after the party’s leader, Vilija Blinkeviciute, chose to retain her seat in the European Parliament.

Paluckas is backed by a coalition consisting of the LSDP, the Nemunas Dawn party, and the Democratic Union "For Lithuania," which together hold 86 seats in the 141-seat Seimas​. Nauseda, who has been backed by the Social Democrats in his re-election earlier this year, had initially indicated he would oppose the new coalition because of the inclusion of Nemunas Dawn, whose leader, Remigijus Zemaitaitis, has been accused of antisemitism.

While appearing on a TV3's programme on November 18, Paluckas revealed plans to revise Lithuania’s 2025 state budget to allocate 3.5% of GDP for defence spending, LRT.lt reported on November 19.

To meet these commitments, he indicated that additional borrowing would be necessary. Currently, Lithuania’s defence budget is about 3.2% of GDP, amounting to €2.5bn, with next year’s budget maintaining a similar amount, which will be just over 3% of GDP due to projected economic growth​.

Paluckas has also indicated that he will try to mend bridges with China, which broke off relations with Lithuania when the previous centre-right government allowed Taiwan to open a representative office under its own name, in violation of Beijing's One China policy.

Paluckas’s nomination is also not without controversy. In 2007, he was implicated in a scandal known as the "rat poison case", where he was accused of mishandling public procurement during his time as head of the Vilnius city administration. 

The case involves allegations that Paluckas favoured a particular pest control company, leading to financial damage to the city.  He was convicted of abuse of office and sentenced to two years in prison, though the sentence was suspended. His appeals against the conviction were unsuccessful.