"The Social Democrats, Mr Paluckas, have fallen into a kind of trap because they wanted a very comfortable coalition for themselves. One of the coalition partners is doing everything to get thrown out. There is a tactic of creating a legend of a wronged party that the system will deal with. I will be thrown out of the coalition, and then I will beat this drum for four years until the next Seimas elections or the presidential elections," Šimonytė told Žinių Radijas.
"Because, as the history of Lithuania has shown so far, voters sometimes take such wronged "martyrs" and for some reason value them, even though there is nothing behind this particular gentleman other than lies and rudeness," she added.
Therefore, the former Prime Minister does not doubt that it is only a matter of time before the ruling coalition starts to crumble.
"I think this is a deliberate tactic. And it will be challenging for the Social Democrats to back away from this now, after such a fiery defence of this coalition just a couple of months ago. But it seems to me that it is only a matter of time before people plan to move to physical action," she said.
"You look at how long this gentleman has been talked about now. Everyone is talking about this gentleman: those who ate popcorn during the elections and those who have been suppressing this coalition. And in this way, they are simply blowing air into the tyres of Mr Žemaitaitis and letting him get away with it in this situation, which I think is what he wants," the Conservative said.
Support a minority Government on strategic issues if needed
However, Šimonytė stressed that if the coalition collapsed and the Government had to work in the minority, Conservatives could support its most important, strategic projects.
"I don't see a big problem with supporting the Government in such strategic cases, even if it were to work in a minority", she said.
ELTA recalls that recently, the statements of the Chairman of Nemuno Aušra, Žemaitaitis, about Ukraine and Lithuania's security have resonated in the public space. The politician disagreed with the decisions of the National Defence Council (VGT) to significantly increase defence funding. When the Speaker of the Seimas urged the politicians who had doubts to go to Ukraine, Žemaitaitis said he did not see the point.
At the same time, LNK žinios reported on Wednesday that during meetings with voters, Žemaitaitis had accused President Gitanas Nausėda of proposing nationalising people's deposits and using them for defence. The politician also believes that sanctions on the transit of Belarusian fertiliser should be lifted to obtain additional funds for national defence.
The Presidency does not spare any criticism of Mr Žemaitaitis statements, calling them lies resembling Russian propaganda.
"Either Zakharova and Peskov have become members of Nemuno Aušra, or Žemaitaitis has joined United Russia - there is no difference when people lie to weaken Lithuania," presidential adviser Frederikas Jansonas told Elta.
For his part, Skvernelis on Thursday assessed Žemaitaitis' statements as an ongoing disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting Lithuania's decision to strengthen its security. He also considered that Nemuno Aušra Chairman’s statements did not align with the principles enshrined in the coalition agreement. Therefore, the leader of the Democratic Union, Vardan Lietuvos (In the Name of Lithuania), said that this situation needs to be discussed with the Coalition Council. Still, he is waiting for the Social Democrats, the largest partner of the ruling party, to initiate such a conversation.