“Today’s concentration is perhaps about the unification of viewpoints,” M. Sinkevičius told journalists before the meeting.
“It is possible that regardless of the fact that there is no list (names of ministers – ELTA), again, I have not been appointed, I have just been nominated, it is early in the matter, but we will be able to discuss some positions or some persons. This is a matter of the president’s wishes regarding the course of the conversation,” he stressed, when asked if he was bringing a list of potential ministers’ names to the meeting.
And now, after the meeting, G. Nausėda confirmed that he will submit the candidacy of the chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), Mindaugas Sinkevičius, as prime minister.
The President noted that he will submit his candidacy to the Seimas on Thursday evening, after returning from a business trip to Poland.
“I hope that everything will go smoothly, I will return before the evening session and tomorrow in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania I will present the candidacy of Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius to the Seimas,” G. Nausėda told reporters.
The head of the country revealed that he had urged M. Sinkevičius to take leadership and lead the Government before, but according to G. Nausėda, the Socdem did not take such responsibility then.
“I won’t hide that at the very beginning I convinced and urged Mr. Mindaugas Sinkevičius to take on the position of prime minister. That time he decided against it, so I am glad that this time he nevertheless took the necessary political responsibility, as the leader of the Social Democratic Party, to take the lead in the formation of the Government cabinet. I hope that we will overcome this process smoothly and quickly, according to all the deadlines set in the Constitution, and we will be able to start work,” said G. Nausėda.
They also discussed possible ministerial candidates
And although M. Sinkevičius said that the purpose of the meeting was not to discuss ministerial candidacies, G. Nausėda said after the meeting that this topic was also discussed. However, according to him, the final image of the Cabinet of Ministers is not yet clear, but when talking about possible changes, the head of the country mentions the responsibility of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vladislav Kondratovičius, in the history of the leaked data of the Registry Center.
“Unfortunately, I can’t reveal the names to you today, I see that they are already mentioned in the public space, some correctly, some not quite. There are so far more than one candidate for some ministries and we really should take a little more time, a short pause (…), to think about which of those candidates would be more suitable,” G. Nausėda said at the press conference held at the Presidency on Wednesday evening.
“There are situations when the current minister is proposed and a possible alternative candidate is proposed at the same time. Again, we probably cannot put a dot on the i today and we need to think about whether that other candidate replacing the current minister will be a more suitable path, will be a more suitable solution,” he added.
However, speaking about the ministries that currently face the most problems, the head of the country named the Ministry of the Interior (MIA). Therefore, according to him, during the conversation with M. Sinkevičius, they talked about the candidate for the position of the head of this ministry.
“There are problematic areas, for example, related to the fact that the Registry Center scandal did not decorate Lithuania, to put it mildly. And in this area, I also see the responsibility of the Minister of the Interior. We also talked about the candidate for the position of the Minister of the Interior,” he emphasized.
G. Nausėda has made up his mind – he will nominate M. Sinkevičius for prime minister: in the footage – the moments of the fateful meeting
Changes are also expected in the Ministries of Health, Environment and Agriculture
Speaking, G. Nausėda also named the Ministries of Health Protection, Environment and Agriculture about the areas where greater changes should be made.
“Perhaps there are ministries where you would like changes to be implemented faster, so, first of all, I would mention the Ministry of Health Protection, yes, the Ministry of the Environment also has a number of tasks, and, as you know, the Ministry of the Environment remains at the disposal of the Social Democratic Party. The position of the Ministry of Agriculture is particularly important, as the new financial perspective approaches,” the country’s leader emphasized.
The President described the conversation with M. Sinkevičius as “long and informative”. G. Nausėda noted that he discussed the work priorities of the future new Government with the head of the Social Democrats, on which, according to the president, he and M. Sinkevičius agree.
M. Sinkevičius also does not reveal the names of the ministerial candidates
For his part, M. Sinkevičius said that he could not yet reveal the names of potential ministerial candidates. According to him, the social democratic candidates for ministers will still have to be discussed in the LSDP party structures.
“You will find out next week about the candidate and other candidates, because the cabinet is not made up of one person. Also understand that (…) yes, the prime minister forms the cabinet, but behind the prime minister there is also a political organization, a party. We have certain democratic processes, when candidates are discussed, they are nominated so that there is no choice of just one person, one chairman,” M. Sinkevičius told reporters after the meeting with the president.
“We haven’t done that yet, but I think we’ll do it early next week and you’ll definitely hear that name,” he added.
According to M. Sinkevičius, who is being delegated as prime minister, it is still difficult to answer how many heads of ministries will be changed.
“The extent of those changes is hard to say now, but definitely more than three,” he said.
Defense financing and improvement of the demographic situation are among the priorities discussed
“Defence and security must remain the most important work of this Government. Financing of national defense between 5 and 6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product should remain a quantitative goal of this Government, because it is related to Lithuania’s quest to implement the national division project and our desire to accept allies, first of all, the German brigade, and provide all the necessary conditions to our American partners,” said G. Nausėda about the future most important work priorities of the Cabinet of Ministers.
According to him, another important priority is related to the demographic situation, which, according to G. Nausėda, needs to be improved.
“We agreed that the demographic situation is bad, but just stating it is not enough, we need active measures to change the situation and we don’t have much time. Those measures must be implemented as early as possible and all ideas that are aimed at the goal should be considered, seriously considered, and I hope that the decisions with this Government will move faster,” said G. Nausėda.
The president also singled out regional politics. G. Nausėda said he hoped that he and M. Sinkevičius would be able to find an agreement in this area.
“Purposeful use of the European Union’s financial resources, specifically meeting the goals of regional policy, must be our priority,” explained G. Nausėda.
Also, according to the head of the country, one of the most important tasks is Lithuania’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will begin at the beginning of next year.
“When approving the Government, when approving the vice-ministers, it will be necessary to keep in mind that they can properly fulfill their function – to represent Lithuania during the presidency, competently and professionally, so that no one has the slightest doubt that Lithuania, during the presidency, will be able to perform that function at the highest level”, the head of the country taught.
M. Sinkevičius: the priorities of the new coalition and the president coincide
The leader of the social democrats M. Sinkevičius also noted that the priorities of the work of the head of the country and the new coalition coincide, including security, social protection, demographic challenges.
“The priorities of the president coincide with the priorities of the new coalition, (…) there are such keywords – security, security not only in the sense of defense, acquisitions, strengthening the army, attracting Allies, but also social security. Another thing that really unites us is demographic issues, helping families, (…) of course, the economy is very important, because without a strong economy, our commitments (…) will have no basis,” M. Sinkevičius told journalists.
He assured that the situation is complicated by the fact that the Seimas have only two years left to work in this term, and as the elections approach, “distractions”, searches for political benefits, and populist ideas are often proposed.
“However, I think that the positions coincide, the visions coincide, and I think that we will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder,” noted M. Sinkevičius.
As announced, on Tuesday the president signed a decree providing for the resignation of the Government and social democrat Inga Ruginienė from the position of prime minister.
The head of the country, by decree, also assigned the Cabinet of Ministers to continue to perform their duties on an interim basis.
The 20th Government resigned because the ruling coalition was reformed and LSDP Chairman M. Sinkevičius announced last week that he had made a decision to take over the leadership of the new Cabinet of Ministers. In the new coalition agreement signed on Thursday, his name is added to the post of prime minister.
Parliamentarians will have to decide on the new prime minister no later than a week after his presentation in the plenary session hall. The Seimas votes openly on the candidacy of the Prime Minister – a simple majority of votes is enough to approve it.
If the parliament approves the candidate for prime minister, he will have to present the cabinet of ministers drawn up and approved by the president to the Seimas and submit the government program for consideration no later than 15 days after the appointment. The government receives authorization to act when the Seimas approves its program by a majority of the members participating in the session.
I. Ruginienė, a social democrat, was appointed to the post of prime minister last August. The Government headed by her was sworn in to the Seimas last September.
The Government is being changed for the second time this term. Last year, after the then Prime Minister Gintautas Palucks resigned from his post, the entire Cabinet of Ministers also had to resign.
