Lithuanian president hints at replacing ‘one or another’ minister

When it comes to changes in the composition of the government, the talk is not about a mass change, but about the replacement of “one or another” minister, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has said.

“We talked about that preliminarily with the prime minister. I am certainly not talking about a mass change of the cabinet – this is not the right time and place for that – but I have a very clear and quite negative opinion about the work of some ministers,” the president told reporters at the Seimas on Tuesday.

“We should not use the arguments that there is not much time left [until the parliamentary elections]. I think that we should make those decisions. We are talking about one or another minister,” he added.

The president said he was critical of the work of the health and agriculture ministers. Nausėda, however, refrained from saying whether he saw specific candidates for ministerial portfolios.

“I would like to take the first step and only then take the second step,” he said.

Speaking about his relations with Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, the president said they were normal and businesslike.

“We have recently dealt with many issues; we have exchanged views. I would say that the relations are absolutely normal. I do not think it is necessary to make any far-reaching generalisations based on one fact or another,” Nausėda said.

Ingrida Šimonytė returns the government mandate to Gitanas Nausėda | J. Stacevičiaus / LRT nuotr.

The Lithuanian parliament began debating on Tuesday whether Šimonytė can continue to lead the government.

The prime minister’s candidacy will be approved if she receives the support of more than half of the MPs present at the sitting.

The prime minister must submit her leadership to a confidence vote in the parliament after she returned her cabinet’s mandate to Nausėda last week following his inauguration for a second five-year term as president.

This procedure, sometimes referred to as a “courtesy resignation”, is provided for in the Lithuanian constitution.

If Šimonytė continues as prime minister, she will also have to agree with the president on the composition of the cabinet of ministers.