With the ruling social democrats deciding to remove “Nemuno aušra” from the coalition, its leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis says he feels more relief than resentment, hoping for less attention to his political force.
„I think it’s more of a relief. Now, as I say, (…) as we joked before, now we can perhaps relax more calmly, we’ll have to comment less, we’ll have to answer for something less,“ the “aušriečiai” leader told BNS on Saturday.
He spoke on Saturday after the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) decided to remove “Nemuno aušra” from the ruling coalition and invite the Democratic Union “Vardan Lietuvos” to negotiations instead.
„There’s no surprise here, because just under a year ago “Vardan Lietuvos” changed, this time they changed us, so this is the social democrats’ decision, their position, I can’t correct or change anything there, because they are the main big coalition partners, (…) so they decide who could be in a coalition with them,“ said R. Žemaitaitis.
He called it a “natural thing” that after this decision by the social democrats, the “Nemuno aušra” faction in the Seimas would move to work in opposition.
„There is no other option, here is the Seimas (Parliament – BNS) statute, you cannot choose to be in the middle. The Seimas statute has a provision: mixed, ruling majority, opposition. Well, (…) we are going into opposition immediately,“ said the “aušriečiai” leader.
According to the politician, opposing the majority will strengthen the party’s positions in the upcoming municipal elections and create an opportunity to make sharper decisions.
„When you are no longer in the ruling coalition, on the contrary, the strength of “Nemuno aušra” as a political party increases, because we were still three coalition partners and most often had to make diplomatic decisions or try to maneuver, making non-sharp decisions. Now there are much greater opportunities, there is no doubt about that,“ said R. Žemaitaitis.
According to him, it is only “a matter of time” until the social democrats decide to replace Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė, although LSDP leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Saturday that he was satisfied with the head of government’s work.
However, when asked if he was considering becoming prime minister, the social democratic leader said he was not shying away from responsibility.
Predicts a crisis of confidence, sees no “aušriečiai” responsibility for it
According to R. Žemaitaitis, the third change in the coalition in less than a year and a half indicates a lack of stability in the state, but their leader sees no “aušriečiai” responsibility for it.
„This shows that there is no stability in the state, and trust in politicians, I think, will now waver very strongly again, because it is certainly not normal for coalitions or prime ministers to change so often,“ the politician said.
As BNS wrote, discussions on reviewing the coalition were prompted some time ago by the vote of “Nemuno aušra” representatives against the establishment of the Kapčiamiestis training ground.
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Some social democrats were dissatisfied that R. Žemaitaitis sharply criticizes some of their ministers, his behavior and speeches cause negative resonance in society, and furthermore, the politician has been convicted of antisemitism by a first-instance court.
The chairman of “Nemuno aušra” rejected that the turning point in discussions about the coalition’s composition was the disunited vote of his party members in the Seimas regarding the establishment of the Kapčiamiestis training ground.
„Certainly not, because we knew very well when the coalition was being formed, Mindaugas, even when it was being formed with Gintautas Paluckas, (…) had clearly stated that he would not want to work with “Nemuno aušra”, “Vardan Lietuvos” is closer to him,“ said R. Žemaitaitis.
According to him, the change in the coalition was due to M. Sinkevičius’ personal priorities.
„I think that with the change of the party leader (…) the positions simply changed, there is no need to look for archaeological things here, there are simply better, closer relations (…), perhaps better work with them (democrats – BNS) than, say, when it was Vilija Blinkevičiūtė’s, mine and Saulius (Skvernelis’ – BNS) coalition. I think one should simply look through that prism,“ said the “aušriečiai” leader.
„The incoming leader forms his entire team, will reform ministers, will reform the government program, perhaps we will see more liberal views in the program than ours,“ he added.
Plans to decide on candidacy for Palanga mayor in winter
With the Palanga branch of “Nemuno aušra” wanting to nominate R. Žemaitaitis for mayor in next year’s municipal elections, the politician says he has not yet decided on his candidacy.
„I only emphasize that the Palanga branch has expressed such a wish for me to run in the Palanga mayoral elections, so no decision has been made yet, only the branch (…) asked me to run. So this is the branch’s position,“ the politician said.
„It’s winter here, there’s no need to rush now, it’s summer now, a lot of work with the branches, we have many plans for the summer. We are traveling across Lithuania again, holding meetings. There’s plenty of activity now,“ said R. Žemaitaitis.
According to him, as many people gather for meetings with “aušriečiai” as before the last Seimas elections.
„The same number of people actually come, the same number ask questions, especially regarding the sending of soldiers to the Strait of Hormuz, allegedly pretending to be some kind of peace mission, where there is no information, no data. (…) There is a lot of work and a lot of people really come, fewer in some places, more in others,“ said R. Žemaitaitis.
After the 2024 Seimas elections, the social democrats had formed a ruling coalition with “Nemuno aušra” and the democrats, but last autumn they reorganized the majority, inviting the parliamentary faction of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and the Christian Families Union instead of the democrats.
Currently, the ruling majority in the Seimas has 80 representatives. A coalition of LSDP, democrats, and “farmers” would have 75 votes.
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