"I launched such an initiative that the coalition could start discussions on a single candidate for the country's president. I think that the issue could be on the agenda of the upcoming meetings of the (coalition's) political council," Paksas told journalists following a meeting of the coalition party leaders on Monday.
The Order and Justice party leader also pledged support for Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius as a candidate, if he decided to run for president.
"If Algirdas Butkevičius ran for president, I would definitely back him," Paksas said.
Meanwhile Butkevičius says he is currently not thinking about the presidential election.
"If I weren't prime minister, perhaps I would agree, but at this time I am not thinking about that," he told journalists, adding that the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania had already picked a candidate of their own.
"Perhaps our partners will be happy with that candidate, too," Butkevičius said.
Viktor Uspaskich, founder of the Labor Party, welcomed the single candidate idea.
"It would be good but it will depend on all coalition partners and, of course, on the candidate," he told journalists, adding that Butkevičius as a candidate could be "an issue worth considering."
Asked whether, in his opinion, Butkevičius would defeat incumbent President Dalia Grybauskaitė, he said: "There are chances as the whole ruling coalition would have more votes than those who back Dalia Grybauskaitė. There are many chances."
Uspaskich also called on Butkevičius to make up his mind about running for president as soon as possible and revealed that the Labor Party's Loreta Graužinienė, elected speaker of the Seimas last week, had decided against running for president.
