The Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, has revoked the mandate of MP Petras Gražulis for breaking his oath of office, thus preventing him from running for parliament or the presidency for ten years.
Gražulis was caught casting a vote for another MP. The Constitutional Court ruled recently that this constituted a gross violation of the constitution.
On Monday, 86 MPs voted in favour of stripping Gražulis of his mandate, eight voted against and four abstained. The motion required at least 85 out of 141 MPs to vote in favour in a secret ballot.
A total of 105 MPs took part in the vote: the ruling Conservatives, the Liberal Movement and the Freedom Party, as well as the opposition Social Democrats and the Labour Party. The opposition Farmers and Greens Movement and members of the Mixed Group of MPs – that Gražulis himself is part of – were absent.
The impeachment of Gražulis was organised after the Constitutional Court found that he had broken his oath of office and grossly violated the Constitution when he voted for his Social Democrat colleague Linas Jonauskas.
Gražulis will not be allowed to run in national elections for 10 years. He will, however, be able to run for the European Parliament.
Gražulis was elected to the parliament in a single-member constituency in Gargždai, a town in the west of Lithuania some 15 kilometres from Klaipėda. Since less than a year remains until the next general election, there will be no by-election and Gražulis’ seat will remain vacant.
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