Forty-six Lithuanian MPs have backed a bid to impeach their fellow lawmaker Petras Gražulis.
Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, chairman of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee, said he submitted the document to the office of Seimas Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen.
At least 36 MPs must back a motion for the Seimas to initiate impeachment proceedings.
Gražulis, chairman of the People and Justice Union, is facing impeachment for voting instead of Social Democrat MP Linas Jonauskas when he turned away to talk to another MP.
There are grounds to believe that Gražulis “grossly violated the Constitution and broke his oath as a member of the Seimas by his deliberate actions”, the motion reads.
Earlier, the Seimas Commission on Ethics and Procedures concluded that there were no grounds for Gražulis’ impeachment.
The Seimas is currently in recess, and lawmakers will get back to work on March 10. The Seimas speaker Čmilytė-Nielsen said there was no point in calling an extraordinary parliament session on this issue.
Under the Seimas Statute, once an impeachment initiative is announced, a special commission must be set up to investigate whether there are grounds for the impeachment proceedings.
If the Seimas decides that there are grounds for impeachment, it must refer the matter to the Constitutional Court, which determines whether the MP in question has violated the Constitution.
If such a violation is established, the resolution to revoke the lawmaker’s mandate is passed if at least three-fifths, or at least 85 MPs, vote in favour of it.
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