Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas stepped down Thursday, following investigations into his business dealings that prompted protests calling for his resignation. Paluckas, a newly established leader of the center-left Social Democrats,

Lithuania's Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas has decided to resign from his post, he said in a statement sent by his Social Democrat Party on Thursday. A junior party in Lithuania's government on Wednesday threatened to quit the ruling coalition unless Paluckas resigned over business ties to a company owned by his sister-in-law.

Paluckas, who is a Social Democrat, ascended to the role late last year after a three-party coalition formed following parliamentary elections in October.