The parliamentary faction of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and the Christian Families Union has delegated Rita Tamašunienė as Minister of Justice, and Edvinas Grikšas as Minister of Economy and Innovation.
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“I believe that the ministers are working really well, the teams are formed, so I would like it to remain that way, so that we don’t have to change something again in the middle of the road,” A. Veryga told BNS.
He stated that he had not heard such a wish from the chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), Mindaugas Sinkevičius, either.
The politician asserted that as the Social Democrats negotiate a coalition with the Democratic Union “For Lithuania”, the “farmers” will not raise demands for additional ministerial control.
On the other hand, he hoped that the ruling majority’s reshuffle would finally resolve the ongoing dispute between the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) and the “Aušriečiai” regarding the post of Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
As BNS wrote, the conflict between the parties arose when Artūras Pekauskas, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture delegated by LVŽS, and Mindaugas Petkevičius, the minister’s advisor, had to leave their positions in the Ministry of Agriculture led by “Nemuno aušra”.
A. Veryga had said that “Nemuno aušra” pressured the “farmers” to accept an additional “Aušriečiai” deputy minister in the Ministry of Economy and Innovation and began to threaten that if Minister E. Grikšas did not do so, the “farmers'” deputy minister of agriculture would be removed.
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According to the coalition agreement, the “farmers” are entitled to two deputy minister posts in the Government, but so far they only have their representative in one.
“I have no doubt that we will have a deputy minister, because otherwise the question will arise whether we can negotiate and keep our word. I have no doubt that now, when one of those partners who caused all this mess is gone, let’s hope that everything will now simply fall into place,” said A. Veryga.
He stated that a smaller ruling majority would not necessarily complicate decision-making.
“Simply more conversations will be needed and consideration of agreements. (…) I don’t think there would be any problems in making those decisions because of that,” the politician mused.
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.
