VILNIUS — In light of the Linas Karalius scandal, in which the rock star-turned-politician went missing for a month, a proposal has been made in the Lithuanian parliament to have all members take a blood test for narcotics use.

Parliamentarian Andrius Šedžius, a member of the opposition Social Democratic Party, said that a recent blood drive parliament members are participating in should be doubled as a drug test. Assuming the results were clean, Šedžius asserted that it would bolster the institution’s public image, which has suffered under [private_supervisor]recent scandals and unpopular austerity measures.

“Now there’s a public debate about whether some members of the Seimas not use drugs. These doubts can be dispersed only after blood tests. I think the blood donation campaign would be an excellent opportunity for research,” Šedžius said at a Seimas session Friday.

Šedžius’ proposal comes during an uproar in the Seimas and Lithuanian media about the conduct of Linas Karalius, a parliament member of the coalition partner National Resurrection Party. Karalius took a vacation to Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand for three weeks in January without informing anyone in the Seimas, or even his staff, of his whereabouts. Later photos of Karalius partying with Thai transsexuals were posted on his Facebook (a social networking website) account, shocking the conservative members of Lithuania’s ruling coalition.

Karalius has returned his January salary back to the Seimas as a gesture of remorse, instead of the one-third amount required by law for missing so many parliamentary sessions.

Before going into politics, the 36-year-old was a famous rock star with the group Žas, which had several hit records in Lithuania during the last decade.

The Karalius affair is not the first ethics scandal the National Resurrection Party has faced in the past six months. In September Arūnas Valinskas was voted out of his speaker of the Seimas position after being accused of assisting Lithuanian gangsters.[/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]recent scandals and unpopular austerity measures.

“Now there’s a public debate about whether some members of the Seimas not use drugs. These doubts can be dispersed only after blood tests. I think the blood donation campaign would be an excellent opportunity for research,” Šedžius said at a Seimas session Friday.

Šedžius’ proposal comes during an uproar in the Seimas and Lithuanian media about the conduct of Linas Karalius, a parliament member of the coalition partner National Resurrection Party. Karalius took a vacation to Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand for three weeks in January without informing anyone in the Seimas, or even his staff, of his whereabouts. Later photos of Karalius partying with Thai transsexuals were posted on his Facebook (a social networking website) account, shocking the conservative members of Lithuania’s ruling coalition.

Karalius has returned his January salary back to the Seimas as a gesture of remorse, instead of the one-third amount required by law for missing so many parliamentary sessions.

Before going into politics, the 36-year-old was a famous rock star with the group Žas, which had several hit records in Lithuania during the last decade.

The Karalius affair is not the first ethics scandal the National Resurrection Party has faced in the past six months. In September Arūnas Valinskas was voted out of his speaker of the Seimas position after being accused of assisting Lithuanian gangsters.[/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]recent scandals and unpopular austerity measures.

“Now there’s a public debate about whether some members of the Seimas not use drugs. These doubts can be dispersed only after blood tests. I think the blood donation campaign would be an excellent opportunity for research,” Šedžius said at a Seimas session Friday.

Šedžius’ proposal comes during an uproar in the Seimas and Lithuanian media about the conduct of Linas Karalius, a parliament member of the coalition partner National Resurrection Party. Karalius took a vacation to Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand for three weeks in January without informing anyone in the Seimas, or even his staff, of his whereabouts. Later photos of Karalius partying with Thai transsexuals were posted on his Facebook (a social networking website) account, shocking the conservative members of Lithuania’s ruling coalition.

Karalius has returned his January salary back to the Seimas as a gesture of remorse, instead of the one-third amount required by law for missing so many parliamentary sessions.

Before going into politics, the 36-year-old was a famous rock star with the group Žas, which had several hit records in Lithuania during the last decade.

The Karalius affair is not the first ethics scandal the National Resurrection Party has faced in the past six months. In September Arūnas Valinskas was voted out of his speaker of the Seimas position after being accused of assisting Lithuanian gangsters.[/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]recent scandals and unpopular austerity measures.

“Now there’s a public debate about whether some members of the Seimas not use drugs. These doubts can be dispersed only after blood tests. I think the blood donation campaign would be an excellent opportunity for research,” Šedžius said at a Seimas session Friday.

Šedžius’ proposal comes during an uproar in the Seimas and Lithuanian media about the conduct of Linas Karalius, a parliament member of the coalition partner National Resurrection Party. Karalius took a vacation to Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand for three weeks in January without informing anyone in the Seimas, or even his staff, of his whereabouts. Later photos of Karalius partying with Thai transsexuals were posted on his Facebook (a social networking website) account, shocking the conservative members of Lithuania’s ruling coalition.

Karalius has returned his January salary back to the Seimas as a gesture of remorse, instead of the one-third amount required by law for missing so many parliamentary sessions.

Before going into politics, the 36-year-old was a famous rock star with the group Žas, which had several hit records in Lithuania during the last decade.

The Karalius affair is not the first ethics scandal the National Resurrection Party has faced in the past six months. In September Arūnas Valinskas was voted out of his speaker of the Seimas position after being accused of assisting Lithuanian gangsters.[/private_subscription 1 year]

— This is a paid article. To subscribe or extend your subscription, click here.