Amid calls from opposition MPs to resign over past business dealings, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas insists he is not planning to subject himself to a vote of confidence.
“I am certain that I have the confidence of the Seimas [parliament], the coalition is united, the coalition sees what kind of speculation and insinuations are being spread in the public domain, so there is no doubt that any interpellations will fail,” he told reporters on Tuesday after a meeting with President Gitanas Nausėda.
According to him, opposition lawmakers have the right to initiate a no-confidence or interpellation procedure, but he is certain that his coalition partners will not support such initiatives.
The ruling coalition, led by Paluckas’ Social Democratic Party, has 86 seats in the 141-member Seimas.
According to Paluckas, he had a “frank conversation” with President Nausėda about the shadow cast on him due to his business dealings from a decade ago.
“We had a frank and sincere conversation with the president, discussed all the political circumstances and various initiatives put forward by the opposition,” the prime minister said.
After his meeting with Paluckas, President Nausėda said he had listened to the prime minister’s explanations and would present his position after the verdict of “responsible institutions”.
“The president heard the prime minister’s explanations. The president, just as he said yesterday, will make any assessments after the responsible institutions have presented their conclusions,” the presidential press service told BNS.
On Sunday, the Centre for Investigative Journalism Siena and Laisvės TV published an investigation raising questions about Paluckas’ business from more than a decade ago, loans received by his company, and links with businessman Darijus Vilčinskas.
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