„He understood the party’s decision, accepts it, and has come to terms with it. We talked about where he would see himself, and he expressed certain expectations. I hope the party will be able to respond to them. There should be no programmed further conflict,“ said the Prime Minister in an interview published on Tuesday on the LRT portal.
He said he recently discussed the situation with K. Vilkauskas himself.
„Kęstutis decided to act as he did, his motives are known to him and explained to me. He stated that he does not intend to repeat it, to make a second take,“ said M. Sinkevičius.
The Prime Minister noted that the decision to remove K. Vilkauskas from the position of committee chairman was not his personal decision, but the party’s.
BNS wrote that after Luko Alsys took over the Ministry of Culture in July, former minister Vaida Aleknavičienė should take the post of the mentioned committee chairwoman. M. Sinkevičius previously said that the politician is proposed for this position to utilize her accumulated work experience in the field of culture. The Speaker of the Seimas agrees with this.
In mid-July, the Culture Committee, convened for an extraordinary meeting to change the chairman, failed to dismiss K. Vilkauskas from office. In a secret ballot, four committee members voted for the dismissal of the chairman, four were against. Before that, K. Vilkauskas refused to resign from office himself.
Read more Luigi Mangione trial postponed due to acknowledgment of guilt in federal court
The decision on the replacement of the committee chairman is planned to be made during the autumn session in the Seimas, but it could also be considered earlier by convening an extraordinary meeting. It is scheduled for August 25.
According to the Seimas statute, the committee chairman is elected by the committee members, and his decision is confirmed by the entire Seimas.
K. Vilkauskas has chaired the committee since the beginning of this Seimas term in 2024.
