Several hundred people attended a protest in the square outside the Presidential Palace in Vilnius on Thursday. Originally intended to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, who stepped down earlier in the day, the rally criticised President Gitanas Nausėda for not demanding the resignation sooner urged him to “find his principled backbone”.
The rally was organised by the Lithuanian Liberal Youth, an NGO not linked to any political party.
“We want an independent leader whose political backbone isn’t dictated by popularity ratings,” the organisers said.
The protest also drew members of opposition parties – the Liberal Movement, the Freedom Party, the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats, and the Lithuanian Green Party.
Participants held signs reading “Awaiting the Spine Investigation Service’s findings”, “Tall, handsome, spineless. Who?” and “No arrogance can hide spiritual poverty”, among others.
The Lithuanian Liberal Youth announced the protest in Simonas Daukantas Square before Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas made his resignation public. The aim was to “urge the president to find his principled backbone” and demand the prime minister’s resignation.
Speaking at the rally, Liberal MP Simonas Gentvilas said Paluckas stepped down not because the president or the Social Democratic Party or its coalition partners wanted him to, but because law enforcement institutions did their job.
“And the work isn’t over yet. In the coming weeks, the president must explain what he plans to do about his statement a few months ago that having the Nemunas Dawn party in the coalition was a mistake,” he said.
Gentvilas added that the public should have a say in shaping the new coalition and cabinet.
Several protesters quoted the constitution, including the president’s oath of office, and Nausėda’s earlier promises.
Freedom Party leader Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius said that in the eight months under the centre-left government, “the president has repeatedly wiped his feet on the rule of law, morality and political standards”.
“What on earth happened to our president, who is supposed to be the guarantor of the constitution? Did he make a human mistake? Or have the president and the Presidential Office become a political abscess that is finally ready to burst and cleanse itself?” he asked.
Facing mounting questions about his past and business dealings, Paluckas announced on Thursday morning that he was stepping down as prime minister and also resigning as leader of the ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party.
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