Tony G's Parliamentary Ambitions

Tony G's Parliamentary Ambitions

Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Who says there aren't any characters in politics these days? The movers and shakers in Brussels could be in for a shock next year after loudmouth poker pro Antanas Guoga, aka Tony G, announced plans to stand in the 2014 European Parliamentary elections in Lithuania.

Tony will be on the ballot for the Liberal Party in next May's vote and is well placed after finishing second on his party's candidate list. Lithuania's Liberal Party currently has one MEP in Brussels and has high hopes of gaining a second in next May's poll.

Guoga took to Facebook to announce his candidacy and outline what he has to offer to voters in the small Baltic state.

“I think that Lithuanian politics needs new people and new blood and I want to change policy. I have been fortunate enough myself to be reasonably successful in my life and I have new ideas and hope to inspire others to come into politics too. I think I can bring a lot to the table with my experience in life and business.”

Running a parliamentary campaign does mean that Guoga's poker career will have to take a back seat for the time being although he is “still committed to playing the Partypoker Premier League in Montreal in November” adding that he “would even stake Hellmuth and Michael Phelps.”

The Lithuanian Liberal Party is a member of the European Parliament's Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe which is the third largest transnational grouping in the European Parliament. It is a largely centrist organisation which supports greater European integration and the single market.

We do wonder whether the bureacrats of Brussels have encountered anyone quite like Tony G before. Are Europe's politicians qualified?



Image courtesy of T.Bauro @ Lrytas.lt.



Tags: Tony G, politics