After members of parliament failed to lift the legal immunity of Social Democrat Arūnas Dudėnas last week, Saulius Skvernelis, Chairman of the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos (In the Name of Lithuania) Saulius Skvernelis stated that the coalition agreement had been violated, asserting that if the coalition partners did not rectify this mistake, the Democrats would not support the planned changes to the tax system.
However, on Monday, the Democrats' tone was already softer. Even though, in the Democrats' assessment, the coalition agreement had been broken, they proposed adding four points to the accord.
Although the coalition partners' verdict is now awaited, they no longer link their support or opposition to these conditions to their support or opposition to the possible tax system reform.
Žemaitaitis: everyone needs a cooling-off period
After the Coalition Council meeting, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, Chairman of Nemunas Aušra, assured that, despite the threats from the Democratic coalition partners, the atmosphere was good and productive.
„Look, my friend Linas (Kukuraitis – author's note) is already laughing. Everyone needs a cooling-off period. We'll wait, cool down, and everything will be fine.
The atmosphere is good, but there are many questions and work to be done. There will be more situations like this.
Do you think the coalition is set in stone? The alliance still has four years to work. I think we will still have hot and cold periods,“ said Žemaitaitis.
Kukuraitis: the discussion was convincing
Kukuraitis, representative of the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos, said that the coalition partners considered the Democrats' tax views. According to the Seimas members, the coalition partners are also seriously considering the vote on Dudėnas' legal immunity.
Kukuraitis indicated that the Democrats had submitted four proposals to supplement the coalition agreement.
„One proposal concerns limiting the immunity of members of the Seimas to the extent that immunity would not apply to possible actions before the Seimas, which would be in line with the interpretation of the Constitutional Court.
The second proposal concerns the financial consequences for Seimas members who fail to attend sessions. It links this to the Seimas member's office expenses (funds—author's note) and deducts a certain percentage from their monthly income.
The third proposal concerns the indexation of Seimas members' office funds (funds – author's note). These are currently indexed every three months and are growing rapidly, which we believe is unfair, as average wages are growing rapidly. Seimas members' office funds are increasing accordingly. Therefore, we would link it to annual indexation, but at the same time, we would ensure that we do not exceed 5% growth if the average wage grows faster.
The fourth proposal was related to tax decisions. If we make tax decisions, then a moratorium on tax increases until the end of the term should be included in the coalition agreement,“ said the Democrat.
According to him, all four points were discussed at length during the meeting. Now, the coalition partners will present these issues to their party members and, at the next Coalition Council meeting, decide what will be included in the coalition agreement as an addendum.
„This discussion convinces us that we can continue to work constructively,“ Kukuraitis assured.
When asked why anything was added to the coalition agreement when, according to the Democrats themselves, the existing agreement had been broken, Kukuraitis argued that the focus was on the future.
„We have stated, and the Prime Minister has stated, that it was a mistake, but all errors are corrected so we do not repeat them. To this end, public discussions and preventive measures ensure that these things do not happen again.
Suppose we create algorithms so that no one can hide behind a member of parliament's mandate, no matter what kind of 'beard' they come to parliament with. In that case, this will be a serious moral decision not only for this term but also for future terms, in my opinion,“ said Kukuraitis.
At the same time, according to him, the situation with Dudėnas is the responsibility of the Social Democrats, while the Democrats are responsible for ensuring that the coalition agreement continues to be respected and that such conditions are avoided in both this and the next Seimas.
However, when asked whether the Democrats' vote on taxes in the Seimas would depend on whether the coalition supports these four points, Kukuraitis did not give a direct answer.
„We are glad that the process is underway, and so far, it is going smoothly,“ said Kukuraitis.
Paluckas: some decisions cannot be reversed
For his part, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas does not see any responsibility on the part of the Social Democrats for the situation with Dudėnas. In his opinion, there is no point in looking back.
„Some situations and decisions cannot be reversed – we can only look forward,“ said Paluckas.
According to the Prime Minister, looking forward would mean revising the immunity of members of the Seimas.
„There has been talk about previous rulings of the Constitutional Court and their interpretation of when immunity applies and when it does not, but we still need to discuss these issues in the factions to see if we understand them in the same way and whether amendments to the Seimas Statute will be sufficient which will determine that immunity applies to a member of the Seimas for his political activities in the Seimas,“ said Paluckas.
In the Prime Minister's opinion, legal immunity should not apply in cases where a member of the Seimas commits a criminal offence while not yet a member of parliament.