„We make political timetables a month in advance – meetings, trips, missions, committees, etc. Today, we have Skuodas, Rietavas, Plungė, and Telšiai. They are planned for a month, with announcements posted. Now, there is a Coalition Council. As much as the Coalition Council seems to be a priority, if I do not go to the people now and change the announcement, the people will say, 'You are jazzing it up. You can't do that“, Žemaitaitis told Elta on Wednesday.
He said that his colleague Puchovich would attend the coalition council meeting.
Asked whether the coalition partners could misunderstand such a decision as a protest, Žemaitaitis reiterated that he could not change the meetings scheduled well before the council meeting.
Susiję straipsniai
„I am already being misunderstood from all sides“, the politician replied.
„I will certainly not change the time people have scheduled, and I will not deceive people“, Žemaitaitis added.
The MEP also said that he mentioned to Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas last week that he would probably not attend Wednesday's meeting.
On his Facebook account, Žemaitaitis announced that he and his party colleague Audrius Bukauskas will attend a meeting with voters in Skuodas on Wednesday morning. He will visit Rietavas and Plungė with the Member of Parliament Tomas Domarkas, and in the evening, he will visit Telšiai with the Member of Parliament Martynas Gedvilas.
For his part, Puchovich, who will represent Nemuno Aušra at the Coalition Council meeting, said that it should not be exaggerated that Žemaitaitis will not attend the meeting with the partners of the ruling majority.
„We have spoken with Remigijus – we don't see any problems. We are going to listen to what will be presented. (...) There will not be any decisions taken today that would require Remigijus' vital participation,“ said Puchovich.
The Social Democrats will be represented in the Coalition Council by Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas and the Vice-Presidents of the Seimas Rasa Budbergytė and Orinta Leiputė. At the same time, three members of the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos (In the Name of Lithuania) – the Speaker of the Seimas Saulius Skvernelis, the group's elder Linas Kukuraitis, and the Minister of Economy and Innovation Lukas Savickas – will also attend the Council meeting.
The Prime Minister's adviser downplays the fact that Žemaitaitis will not attend the Coalition Council
When Remigijus Žemaitaitis, the leader of Nemuno Aušra, decided not to participate in the Coalition Council convened by the Government on Wednesday, Justinas Argustas, an advisor to the Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, does not see such a move by the partner of the ruling coalition. According to him, Žemaitaitis has informed that he has pre-planned visits to the regions.
„Remigijus has made it clear why he cannot attend. We can see that there are objective circumstances, visits, and meetings. He has never avoided or missed a single meeting, and as far as I know, he has actively participated in the coalition councils, raising issues and discussing them. So, we don't see any drama here,“ Argustas told Elta.
„We are not dramatising this issue, and we are not blowing a bubble. Remigijus' colleague Robert (Puchovich – ELTA) will be there, and they will unify the knowledge. You don't have to sit in a room to get all the information – this is not a compulsory vote,“ he continued.
In addition, the Prime Minister's Adviser noted that other members of the coalition council will not be able to attend—for example, Social Democrat Deputy Speaker of the Seimas Rasa Budbergytė will have to attend a joint meeting of the Parliament's European Affairs and Foreign Affairs Committees at that time.
Kukuraitis: absence reduces the opportunity to influence decisions
At the same time, assessing the ruling majority partner's decision, Linas Kukuraitis, the elder of the Democrats' group in the Seimas, wonders whether the leader of Nemuno Aušra deliberately does not want to participate in the debate or whether the issues on the agenda of the meeting are not vital to them. In any case, the Vardan Lietuvos member pointed out that not attending the meeting reduces the possibility of influencing the majority's relevant decisions.
„It is up to the coalition partners to decide who attends. They choose how much influence they need to have on decisions. When the party Chairman and the group elder are absent – especially when discussing the government's plan of measures and tax matters – the possibility of influencing decisions is reduced. The question is whether it is a deliberate choice not to participate and then have the freedom to comment, or whether it is thought that the issues that are currently being raised in the Coalition Council are not that important,“ Kukuraitis, the elder of the Vardan Lietuvos group in the Seimas, told Elta.
„We want to meet, to consult. But not being present allows expressing a separate opinion“, the Seimas Democrat added.
ELTA recalls that Žemaitaitis, one of the leaders of the ruling majority and the Chairman of Nemuno Aušra, will be absent from the Coalition Council meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. The politician confirmed to Elta that he had planned meetings with voters so that the Nemuno Aušra members would be represented at the Coalition Council, this time by one MP, Robert Puchovich.
„We make political schedules a month in advance – meetings, sessions, trips, business trips, committees, etc. Today, we have Skuodas, Rietavas, Plungė, and Telšiai. They are planned for a month, and the announcements are posted. Now, there is a Coalition Council. As much as the Coalition Council seems to be a priority, if I do not go to the people now and change the announcement, the people will say, 'You are jazzing it up. You can't do that“, Žemaitaitis told Elta on Wednesday.
He also said that last week, he had hinted to Prime Minister Paluckas that he was unlikely to attend Wednesday's meeting.
On his Facebook account, Žemaitaitis announced that on Wednesday morning, he and his party colleague Audrius Bukauskas would attend a meeting with voters in Skuodas, then visit Rietavas and Plungė together with the Member of Parliament Tomas Domarkas and in the evening visit Telšiai together with the Member of Parliament Martynas Gedvilas.
On Wednesday, the Coalition Council will discuss changes to the tax system. Tax changes are being considered to increase defence funding in the country.