Remigijus Žemaitaitis says that if his candidacy hinders the coalition's further work, he will not submit his name, but only on one condition – if the alliance supports the Nemuno Aušra bill on the disclosure of those who collaborated with the KGB.
„We have spoken to the Prime Minister. We will meet again and discuss the possibilities. If my name is a significant obstacle to further work, I will be happy to give way to a KGB law.
If the coalition partners agree to vote in favour of the KGB law and we expose the scoundrels who are blackmailing us and who are putting the whole of Lithuania on its feet, then I would certainly be happy to resign from any position in the Seimas,“ Žemaitaitis said.
On Monday, Agnė Širinskienė, a representative of the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos (In the Name of Lithuania), signed a request to resign from her position as Deputy Speaker of the Seimas. This brings the total number of Deputy Speaker positions to two.
Who would take another seat?
„I don't know, we'll see, apparently, from my deputies, members of the Seimas. There are 19 members of the Seimas; some of them have experience, some of them have no experience – I guess we will choose from among them,“ Žemaitaitis said.
However, the coalition partners assessed the conditions of the leader of Nemuno Aušra differently.
Saulius Skvernelis, the Speaker of the Seimas, initially reacted as follows. Very rational. However, he immediately added that the Seimas is not a market.
„The Seimas is not a marketplace for the political exchanges. We have a position on the law on KGB collaborators. We are not categorically opposed to it, but the objective must be stated because, in the draft that has been presented, the objectives are self-deception—neither state politicians nor people in the statutory services and other important institutions can work with such persons anymore; the legal safeguards were put in place long ago.
We can do so if we want to open up out of curiosity. I don't see much opposition,“ said Skvernelis.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas welcomed that Žemaitaitis was looking for compromises.
„Everything is possible. This is a kind of compromise, a negotiation proposal. It is a very rational and normal thing in politics because many things will have to be negotiated, be it tax proposals, pension accumulation, the development of the infrastructure of the road fund or defence. Negotiations are a very normal thing,“ the Prime Minister said.
However, when it was pointed out that when he was in the opposition, he did not approve of all political exchanges, Paluckas retorted that he was probably mixed up with some other politician.
„I don't remember having criticised a normal constructive negotiation process. This is the basis of politics. If we always stand with our truth, we will get nowhere. Compromise is sometimes necessary to move forward in general and to address issues important to the Lithuanian people“, he said.
We recall that Skvernelis said at the weekend that the coalition with Nemuno Aušra was a mistake. He has repeatedly made it clear that he will not nominate Žemaitaitis as his deputy until his legal proceedings are over.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Paluckas, who has consistently shown his preference for Žemaitaitis, urged him to wait and not rush with his candidacy.
„There will undoubtedly be discussions and tensions – both in the coalition and, I have no doubt, in the Seimas – about Žemaitaitis himself. We would each have our position and decide from that position. I would wait a little longer before submitting my candidacy,“ Paluckas said.
Asked what arguments he would use to urge Žemaitaitis to wait and not submit his candidacy, the Prime Minister referred to the ongoing pre-trial investigations.
„First of all, because of certain ongoing pre-trial investigations. These issues need to be clarified. But Nemuno Aušra has the right to put forward the nomination in the current circumstances – whether the nomination will pass or not, whether the Speaker of the Seimas will be willing to put forward the nomination in the first place – we will see,“ said Paluckas.
„Let's first wait for the decision of the Democrats and the Speaker of the Seimas. According to the Seimas statute, the Speaker of the Seimas (...) has to put forward a candidate for vice president. If he does, we will consider it; if he doesn't, we will consider something else“, he added.