Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has backed away from plans to resign after the council of the Homeland Union (TS-LKD) decided the cabinet of the three-party coalition must continue working.
In mid-May, the conservatives said if the parliament failed to approve snap elections in the wake of the expenses scandal, they would consider the government's resignation. At the time, Šimonytė said she should resign after the NATO summit in Vilnius if the Seimas failed to back the early election bid.
By a narrow margin, the parliament voted on June 6 against holding an early election in what the conservatives said would have been a "reset" of the political system. Šimonytė then softened her stance, saying that since the party delegated her, it also needs to decide whether she should resign.
Further reading
"The praesidium does not approve the prime minister and the government's resignation to take personal and institutional responsibility for the prevailing flawed procedure for the use of and accounting for funds local councillors received for their activities," the resolution reads.
The council also urged the prime minister to nominate a candidate for the position of minister of education, science and sport to replace Jurgita Šiugždinienė who resigned last month.
The ruling coalition partners, the Freedom Party and the Liberal Movement, have already said the coalition should continue working.
The expenses scandal, unveiled by Laisvės TV in May, touched all dominant parties in Lithuania. Current and former politicians in local councils, many of whom later moved into the parliament, were found claiming potentially fraudulent expenses.
‘Human reaction’
Later on Friday, Šimonytė apologised for her “human reaction” and “inaccurate communication”.
"In light of the discussion of the praesidium and the fact that the coalition is functioning and in principle does not see any obstacles to the continuation of the coalition agreement, the government will continue its work in the same composition, with [a new] education, science and sport minister to be added as soon as possible, and will continue to carry out its programme," she said in a statement.
"The expectation that the ministers should be dismissed for allegedly failing to meet my own requirements of transparency was groundless, because I had and have no reason to doubt the morality of the ministers," she said.
President Gitanas Nausėda said last month that not only Education, Science and Sport Minister Jurgita Šiugždinienė, but also two other ministers involved in the Kaunas payout scandal – Finance Minister Gintare Skaistė and Culture Minister Simonas Kairys – had to step down.
"I apologise for inaccurately communicating my intention to tender my resignation without consulting the party's bodies, due to my human reaction to the tension,” said Šimonytė. “Understanding my responsibility toward the political community, I should have kept to the wording of the praesidium's resolution.”
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