According to the parliamentarian, the politician who headed the Ministry of National Defence (MND) cannot work in the committee above due to objective circumstances.
„The party neither prohibits nor allows it. First of all, it is a matter for the faction. Secondly, we discussed this in the board after we heard Dovilė desire to return to that committee, but today all of our quotas, which belong to the ruling coalition, are filled. There is no possibility of returning because there are no additional places,“ Leiputė told reporters on Thursday.
„The situation is such that the 20th Government has been formed, and the committees have also been formed. If any member of the Seimas agrees to swap (...), then they will swap,“ she said, adding that this issue may be revisited in the spring.
The Social Democrats also denied that their decision could have been influenced by Šakalienė tough stance on the company Fegda, which is associated with party Chairman Mindaugas Sinkevičius.
„If that's how you see it, then I don't need to convince you. I only know about Fegda from the media. If you look at when the decisions on NSGK members were made, you will see that these are completely unrelated matters,“ she said.
On Thursday, the news portal 15min, citing sources, reported that the Social Democrats did not allow Šakalienė to return to the NSGK. Šakalienė confirmed her colleagues' decision but did not comment further.
As announced, on Wednesday, the Special Investigation Service (STT) began verifying information regarding former Minister of National Defence Šakalienė statements about the circumstances surrounding the road construction work carried out by the company Fegda at the Rūdninkai military training ground.
After the media published information about the defective road, the Ministry of National Defence launched an internal investigation, and Šakalienė, who was still serving as minister at the time, stated that the ministry's lawyers were looking for ways to apply the principle of a „white“ and „black“ list of suppliers, which would help ensure higher quality in the development of military projects in the future.
Šakalienė had also mentioned earlier that when she invited Fegda representatives for a meeting, she received a harsh reaction from the leader of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), Sinkevičius, and felt pressured.