„It seems to me that there are excuses here to justify their decisions somehow. I am very sorry, but the Social Democratic faction has become Žemaitaitis's lackey,“ Šimonytė commented to ELTA on Thursday.
„There is a straightforward principle in law—laws are not passed for one person. This law, to put it bluntly, is being passed because of Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė,“ she added.
Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas, who supports this proposal, has stated that it is related to the conclusions of an audit conducted by the State Audit Office (SAO). For her part, Šimonytė asserts that this has nothing to do with the audit, as the conclusions presented do not declare that the public interest has been violated.
Susiję straipsniai
„No public interest has been violated, and I think the current government sees that very clearly. Seeing this and understanding that they cannot dismiss the current director general under the current law, as there is no violation of the public interest (...), it is obvious that they are simply looking for ways to make that decision easier by securing the support of some of the council members,“ said Šimonytė.
According to her, the current legal regulation that the director general of a public broadcaster can be dismissed for reasons of public interest by a vote of two-thirds of all LRT council members is logical. According to the conservative politician, it is precisely the current procedure that prevents political interference in LRT's activities.
„The current legal regulation is very logical (...) so that there would be no coincidence of the political cycle, some political situation appointing convenient Council members, and then that political situation took over and dismissed the head because they seemed politically unfavourable, for example. That is why there is a 2/3 requirement,“ emphasised Šimonytė.
Skvernelis: We will not support it
For his part, Saulius Skvernelis, Chairman of the Democratic faction Vardan Lietuvos (In the Name of Lithuania), says that the Social Democrats' support for Žemaitaitis' initiative is related to next year's budget.
„It is natural that after the coalition council meeting, Žemaitaitis' condition that these laws be introduced appeared (on the Seimas agenda – ELTA). This is apparently linked to the upcoming adoption of the budget. We will not support it,“ commented Skvernelis.
As announced, the Nemuno Aušra group and members of the Lithuanian Peasant, Green, and Christian Families Union factions are proposing to simplify the procedure for dismissing the LRT director due to a lack of confidence, to ensure control over LRT's activities and, according to them, greater transparency.
Žemaitaitis, the leader of the Nemuno Aušra faction, who has repeatedly criticised the activities of the public broadcaster, Žemaitaitis, together with his colleagues, proposes that the director general of LRT may be dismissed from office before the end of his term of office by secret ballot if at least half of all members of the LRT Council vote in favour of such a vote of no confidence.
Currently, the law stipulates that the director general of a public broadcaster may be dismissed from office before the end of his term of office on grounds of no confidence only if the LRT Council bases its vote of no confidence on the public interest and if at least two-thirds of all Council members vote in favour of such a vote of no confidence.
However, journalists in the country have already approached parliamentarians about this proposal. The authors of the appeal express their dissatisfaction with these members of parliament's actions and claim it is akin to an attempt to take control of the country's public broadcaster.
For its part, the LRT Council, responding to the Seimas' consideration of changes to the procedure for dismissing the head of the public broadcaster, says it supports the decision that the head should be dismissed with the approval of two-thirds of the members.
Meanwhile, the Council of Europe's Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists expressed concern on Wednesday about the situation at LRT. According to the platform, several initiatives currently underway in Lithuania pose a threat to LRT's independence and effective operation. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has already expressed concern about these amendments.