Remigijus Žemaitaitis said on Tuesday that his Nemunas Dawn party is “definitely” considering leaving the ruling coalition if he is not appointed deputy speaker of the Lithuanian parliament.
“Yes, we’re definitely thinking about it,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
According to Žemaitaitis, this move is being considered because the ruling block partners are not adhering to the coalition agreement.
“There was a discussion in the political group today, and [...] all 20 members said that the coalition agreement is not being respected,” he said.
The coalition agreement gives Nemunas Dawn two Seimas deputy speaker positions, with one of them already taken by Agnė Širinskienė.
Žemaitaitis told BNS on Monday that he may seek to take the second position during the Seimas’ current fall session. He said his legal problems were resolved after the parliament lifted his legal immunity to allow the court to continue hearing his criminal case for inciting hatred against Jews.
However, Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernelis said that Žemaitaitis will not be nominated for the second deputy speaker post without a court ruling in the criminal case, as this is the only way to “resolve the legal problems”.
According to Žemaitaitis, “the deputy speaker post belongs to Nemunas Dawn” and the party is putting forward his candidacy.
“We’ve had enough of this game-playing with the ministers, this culture of bullying that went on for three weeks,” the Nemunas Dawn leader.
He described the situation around the appointment of ministers as "incomprehensible" and said it is one of the reasons his party is considering leaving the coalition.
Under the coalition agreement, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) nominated nine ministers, Nemunas Dawn nominated three, and the Democrats “For Lithuania” nominated two.
Lawyer Rimantas Mockus was appointed justice minister, Povilas Poderskis, a former director of administration at Vilnius City Municipality, became environment minister, and Ignas Hofmanas, a farmer from Radviliškis District and the head of the Lithuanian Agricultural Council, received the post of agriculture minister.
Although these three portfolios belong to Nemunas Dawn under the coalition agreement, Poderskis has said he considers himself part of Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas’ team and will engage with Nemunas Dawn like with any other political group. Mockus did not answer whether he was Nemunas Dawn’s candidate for justice minister, emphasising that he is not a politician.
Žemaitaitis was stripped of his legal immunity on December 3 as Vilnius Regional Court is hearing the case regarding his statements about Jews.
Earlier this year, the Constitutional Court ruled that Žemaitaitis broke his oath as an MP and grossly violated the constitution by making anti-Semitic statements. However, he avoided impeachment by resigning from his Seimas seat. He was re-elected to the parliament in October.
In November, prosecutors launched a pre-trial investigation into possible incitement of hatred after Žemaitaitis called on people to gather and light candles outside the home of Vytautas Landsbergis, honorary chairman of the conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, and into allegations of defaming former Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
Resolving issues
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas says all arising issues regarding Nemunas Dawn’s threats to leave the coalition will be resolved.
“There are certainly no ultimatums in our communication. [...] We will definitely address this issue at the coalition council and look for solutions out of this situation,” he told reporters at the Seimas on Tuesday.
Paluckas said the coalition agreement does not mention the exact names of Seimas deputy speakers. He disagreed with Žemaitaitis’ view that the coalition agreement is not being implemented.
“I do understand his desire to become a deputy speaker of the Seimas, but they have the right to delegate someone else,” the prime minister noted.
“At the end of the day, we also need to take into account the fact that the speaker of the Seimas also has his own stance on not nominating Žemaitaitis at this time. However, the decision will be made by the whole coalition,” he added.
Commenting on the ruling coalition’s challenges, Paluckas said the start of work is always the most difficult phase.
“The beginning is always the most difficult stage as you have to get used to each other and to the way of speaking, but that adaptation period is coming to an end, and I am sure we will resolve all the issues that have arisen,” he said.
Paluckas said he met with Žemaitaitis earlier in the day and the two discussed the existing situation.
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