MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis, who was found to have broken his oath of office and seriously violated the constitution, is stepping down as a member of the Lithuanian parliament Seimas.
Last week, the Lithuanian Constitutional Court ruled that Žemaitaitis broke his oath of office and grossly violated the constitution with his statements about Jewish people.
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Following this ruling, lawmakers would have voted on stripping Žemaitaitis of his mandate if he had not stepped down voluntarily.
“On Monday, April 29, at 9:37, the Central Electoral Commission (VRK) received by e-mail the statement of Remigijus Žemakaitis on his resignation from the office of member of the Seimas,” the VRK said in a statement.
The issue of Žemaitaitis’ resignation will be included in the agenda of the next meeting of the VRK, it said.
A person removed from the Seimas through impeachment for a serious violation of the constitution or for breaking their oath of office is banned from standing for election to any office with an oath for then years. However, Žemaitaitis will avoid this ban after he submitted his resignation.
Žemaitaitis, chairman of the Dawn of the Nemunas party, is currently running for Lithuanian president.
The VRK has also found that he used his official position as a member of the Seimas during the presidential election campaign.
Before he met with voters in Šiauliai, Kuršėnai, and Akmenė as a presidential candidate, Žemaitaitis asked the local administrations to provide him with premises for these meetings as a member of the Seimas. He did not pay for these premises.
Moreover, people were invited to meet with an MP, but during the meetings, Žemaitaitis voiced his plans to run for president and urged people to sign for him as a candidate.
The VRK unanimously concluded last week that Žemaitaitis had violated the principle of fair and honest elections as laid down in the Electoral Code.
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