Lithuanian govt secures majority as key vote looms

VILNIUS Jan 28 (Reuters) - Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas expanded his governing coalition on Monday, giving it a majority in parliament ahead of a key vote later this week on a disputed power merger.

The government said Kirkilas had added a fifth party to his coalition, whose 10 seats had given the governing bloc an absolute majority of 73 seats in the 141 member parliament.

"The New Union (Social Liberals) have become a fully-fledged partner in the ruling coalition agreement," the centre-left government said in a statement.

The inclusion of the Social Liberals aimed to rally support ahead of a Friday vote on plans to merge private and state-owned power companies into one firm.

Kirkilas says the merger would give the new entity the financial firepower to help build a new nuclear power plant.

But critics say the plan benefits one private firm in particular, which would get 38.3 percent of a planned company valued at 8 billion litas ($3.41 billion).

Passing the law is a key part of Lithuania's preparations to build a new nuclear power plant by 2015 to replace one scheduled to close at the end of 2009.

One of Kirkilas' former coalition allies, the Liberal and Centre Union, has said it will vote against the proposed law and refused to join the Social Liberals-led coalition, increasing chances that the energy law will be defeated.

Kirkilas, who has led the government since July 2006, late last year threatened to call early elections over opposition criticism of his handling of the economy. Parliamentary elections are next scheduled in October. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Jon Boyle)