The opposition conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) plan to ask the country’s Constitutional Court to rule on whether President Gitanas Nausėda’s decree approving an incomplete government was in line with the country’s constitution.
In a statement on Monday, Mindaugas Lingė, the elder of the TS-LKD political group in the Seimas, said the top court would be asked to clarify how many ministers a government needs to have to be approved and be legitimate.
“When an incomplete government is formed, the deadlines for the appointment of ministers who have not been appointed disappear. This may create the preconditions for violating the constitutional principle of responsible governance,” Lingė said.
“We will therefore ask the Constitutional Court to dispel any doubts and to clarify under what circumstances and in what composition a government must be approved in order to be able to take office and be legitimate,” he added.
In his words, the existing practice is not identical to the situation when a minister resigns or is dismissed due to a lack of confidence in them and another minister needs to temporarily take over their duties.
Last week, Nausėda approved the new government without the environment and justice ministers.
The new ministers are expected to be sworn in later this week after the government programme is approved.
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