Newly appointed Culture Minister Vaida Aleknavičienė says she believes the presence of the Nemunas Dawn party in Lithuania’s ruling coalition is a problem.
“I think so,” Aleknavičienė said Wednesday on LRT TV’s programme Lithuania Speaks (Lietuva kalba) when asked whether she considered the populist party’s participation in the coalition problematic.
Her remark marked a shift from her earlier position. In a previous LRT TV interview, Topic of the Day (Dienos tema), she said she wanted to “remain neutral” on the issue.
“I would prefer to stay neutral because it is connected to my job position,” she said at the time. “If I were to say that I don’t want Nemunas Dawn in the coalition, people would say, ‘See, she really wanted that ministry’.”
Aleknavičienė was initially nominated as culture minister during the formation of Inga Ruginienė’s cabinet in August. However, after the Social Democrats exchanged ministries with Nemunas Dawn, she was removed from the post. Her nomination was resubmitted once the Social Democratic Party retook control of the Culture Ministry.
The governing coalition’s decision to hand over the Culture Ministry to Nemunas Dawn and the appointment of Ignotas Adomavičius, who had no background in cultural affairs, as culture minister sparked protests from Lithuania’s cultural community.
At the sixth Culture Assembly on Wednesday, cultural sector representatives agreed that protests should continue until clear guarantees are given regarding the makeup of the ministry’s remaining political team.
Aleknavičienė has assured the public that her team “will not include a single person from Nemunas Dawn”.
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