„I communicated with the prime minister's team and offered my candidacy,“ Brokas told LRT television on Wednesday.
„I offered it as an option (my candidacy – ELTA). They invited me to a meeting, where I presented my competencies, and then, like the other candidates, we waited for an invitation, and I received that invitation,“ said the deputy minister.
Earlier, when asked whether Nemuno Aušra had put forward his candidacy, Brokas told Žinių Radijas that Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė had offered him the position. At the time, the new deputy minister said he did not know Remigijus Žemaitaitis, the leader of Nemuno Aušra.
As announced, despite calls from the cultural community not to form a political team at the Ministry of Culture until a minister has been appointed, three deputy ministers—Anna Kuznecovienė, Renata Kurmin, and Brokas—began work at the ministry on Tuesday.
The latter has been criticised in the public sphere for his previous experience working as a rhythmologist. This method is considered pseudoscience and was developed by a Russian astronomer.
For her part, the prime minister, who proposed Brokas for this position, said that her priority was to find an independent person who would represent the cultural community.
ELTA recalls that after the coalition agreement was signed, the Ministry of Culture, which belonged to the Social Democrats, was transferred to Nemuno Aušra in an exchange. However, Ignotas Adomavičius, a Nemuno Aušra representative who was appointed minister and faced public criticism, remained in office for just over a week.
The exchange of ministries and the appointment of the Nemuno Aušra representative caused outrage in the cultural community, leading to an organised protest at the Presidential Palace, a warning strike, and the circulation of a petition.
Cultural figures demanding that Nemuno Aušra be removed from the Ministry of Culture initiated a month-long protest, „We Are Culture,“ a few weeks ago.
However, at the beginning of October, the Social Democratic Council decided to take over responsibility for the Ministry of Culture from the Aušra members. Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė assured that she would look for a candidate for this ministry herself, but so far, no candidate to Head the Ministry of Culture has been presented.
The Ministry of Culture is temporarily headed by Raminta Popovienė, Minister of Education, Science, and Sport.