Parliament member Agnė Širinskienė has left the Nemunas Dawn group in the Seimas and announced plans to quit the party altogether. She is to step down as deputy speaker of the Lithuanian parliament.
On Tuesday, she joined the political group of the Democrats “For Lithuania” party.
“I want to work in a calm and constructive environment. I’m staying in the ruling coalition with the same government programme. Another reason, unfortunately less pleasant, is that I have many questions about the environment of various people with convictions, which I wouldn’t want to associate myself with,” the MP told reporters on Tuesday in comment of her decision to leave the Nemunas Dawn party.
“I’m looking to the future constructively. I’ve said on more than one occasion that I came to the Seimas to work, not to demand anything or hold positions, but simply to have the conditions to do my job. That was my goal when I ran in the election, and I continue to pursue that goal,” she added.
Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn, said on he was thankful to Širinskiene for her contributions during the parliamentary election.
Following her departure, the Nemunas Dawn will have 19 seats in the parliament, while the Democrats “For Lithuania” group will increase to 14.
“We know Agnė as a hardworking, responsible, and competent politician. Even when we worked in different groups during the last term, we jointly initiated a number of bills and supported one another’s efforts,” said Linas Kukuraitis, head of the Democrats group, in a statement.
Kukuraitis said Širinskienė shared similar views with his group on most key issues.
As a member of the Nemunas Dawn group, Širinskienė was appointed deputy speaker of the parliament. Meanwhile, the Democrats are not entitled to any deputy speaker posts under the coalition agreement.
According to Žemaitaitis, his party may appoint a new deputy speaker once the parliament convenes for the spring session in March.
Tensions between Širinskienė and Žemaitaitis erupted last December when he warned that if the coalition agreement’s provision for a second deputy speaker from the Nemunas Dawn was not honoured, the party might pull out of the ruling bloc.
The coalition agreement gives the Nemunas Dawn two Seimas vice-speaker positions, one of them filled by Širinskienė and the other sought by Žemaitaitis himself.
Širinskienė criticised the party leader’s statement, saying that the focus should be on delivering on election promises rather than fighting over positions.
Additionally, in late December, the Nemunas Dawn group authorised only Žemaitaitis to comment on its activities and those of the ruling coalition. Širinskienė then said she was reconsidering her future with the political force.
The ruling coalition of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, the Democrats and the Nemunas Dawn holds 86 out of 141 seats in the Lithuanian parliament.
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