“As we conclude this spring session, I first want to sincerely thank all of you, members of the Seimas, for your work. There were various opinions, plenty of discussions, but I believe that in this session we contributed to the overall result, to decisions important for the entire country,” said the parliament speaker, social democrat Juozas Olekas, on Tuesday.
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According to him, nearly 60 meetings were held during the spring session, about 400 legal acts were adopted, of which nearly 300 were laws.
“It was indeed a period of intense work. Of course, numbers are important, but the most important thing is that these adopted decisions are beneficial to the people of Lithuania,” he stated.
Parliamentarians were forced to extend the session due to the formation of the government led by social democrat leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius. This process was completed on Tuesday with the approval of the Government program and the swearing-in of the Cabinet members.
In mid-June, the leaders of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Union “For Lithuania,” the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, and the Christian Families Union factions in the Seimas signed a new ruling coalition agreement.
During the spring session, members of the Seimas adopted a law on the establishment of the Kapčiamiestis training ground in the Lazdijai district, extended national sanctions against Russian and Belarusian citizens, authorized the military to send troops to the Strait of Hormuz, established that public institutions will be prioritized in funding healthcare facilities, repealed stricter requirements for obtaining basic education, obliged local governments to disclose more information about internal transactions, increased the threshold for arms purchase contracts fourfold, above which cooperation with local industry is considered during procurement.
This session, parliamentarians devoted much attention to the reform of the governance of Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) – a new version of the LRT law was adopted.
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Because of it, a rally was held in Cathedral Square in Vilnius, drawing thousands of people to ensure freedom of speech.
During the spring session, the Seimas appointed Artūras Drigotas as a judge of the Constitutional Court, Tomas Davulis as its chairman, Jolanta Bernotaitė as chairwoman of the Chief Official Ethics Commission, Vytautas Valentinavičius as intelligence controller, Alina Jakavonienė as child rights protection controller, Birutė Sabatauskaitė as equal opportunities controller, and Aleksandras Radčenko as Seimas controller.
Parliamentarians also had to vote on lifting legal immunity for former prime ministers Saulius Skvernelis and Gintautas Paluckas.
In April, Democrat Giedrimas Jeglinskas resigned his parliamentary mandate. He was replaced by Vilija Targamadzė, who decided to work in the Social Democratic Party faction. Instead of Kazys Starkevičius, who resigned his mandate, conservative Angelė Jakavonytė joined the Seimas.
At the end of May, liberal Jevgenijus Šuklinas unexpectedly passed away. The Seimas announced that a parliamentarian will be elected in his place on November 8 in the northern Nalšia constituency.
According to the Constitution, the Seimas begins the spring session on March 10 and ends it on June 30. However, the session can be extended.
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On September 10, parliamentarians will convene for the autumn session.
