Ramūnas Karbauskis, leader of the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LŽVS), should initiate an early Lithuanian parliament Seimas election, says Gintautas Paluckas, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP).
His comments comes after Karbauskis’ previous statements on leaving the government if Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis loses the presidential election,
"If we are after various ratings and interim voting results in other elections, and not of the Seimas, so we will erase the very essence of that public trust mandate which is given for four years. If you don't like it, put you mandate on the table. (…) I'm really not frightened by that proposal or threat of an early election. If Karbauskis wants a test, let's have it," Paluckas told the Žinių Radijas news radio on Friday.
He also rejected other scenarios under consideration regarding a minority government, saying that they would be ineffective as the dominant political group in the Seimas would remain the same, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LŽVS).
"Karbauskis is consciously pushing the political system towards a political crisis and is making it into a threat or a blackmail instrument. (…) The most realistic scenario would be a government of technocrat specialists, not of political appointments, and it would work for that short period of time until an early election is organized. (…) If Karbauskis decided that he has enough of responsibility and he wants to test it once again, we have to respect that whish of the largest political group. As, otherwise, you won't' be able to produce anything sustainable and working," Paluckas said.
In his words, an early election could take place next spring for the newly-elected Seimas be able to draft a new budget.
Paluckas believes Karbauskis is trying to absolve himself of responsibility by speaking about leaving the government in case of losing the elections.
"I know that many like Skvernelis as prime minister. But the problem is that Skvernelis is not alone, he's three in one. And by voting for Skvernelis, you, first of all, get Karbauskis, Agnė Širinskienė, and only then Skvernelis. And this is a huge dilemma for many people. So Karbauskis should look in the mirror and look for the one who might be to blame for Skvernelis' failure to get into the presidential runoff," Paluckas said.
Karbauskis said last week that his party would leave the government if the LŽVS presidential candidate Skvernelis fails to get into the presidential runoff and the party loses the European Parliament election.
The first round of voting will take place on the upcoming Sunday, with early voting taking place since Monday.
