Žemaitaitis challenges social democrats to end coalition and work with a cat

The leader of Lithuania’s Nemuno aušra (Dawn on the Nemunas) party, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, has accused the ruling Social Democrats of undermining their own party by focusing on coalition disputes rather than governance, state broadcaster LRT reports.

Speaking to journalists in the Seimas on Thursday, Žemaitaitis dismissed criticism of his party’s opposition to a military training ground in Lazdijai district—a move some Social Democrats consider a breach of their coalition agreement. He suggested the party was engaging in self-destructive infighting.

“I’d like to give them one piece of advice: stop responding to such questions, stop slandering your own party,” Žemaitaitis said. “The tastiest Lithuanian dish is eating a Lithuanian—and for some Social Democrats, the tastiest dish is eating the Social Democratic Party.”

He added that if the Social Democrats chose to terminate their coalition with Nemuno aušra, he would welcome the chance to observe their collaboration with Nuodėgulis—a plush black cat belonging to Democratic MP Agnė Širinskienė, which briefly became a symbolic lawmaker last December after an opposition stunt during a late-night parliamentary session.

“I’d like to see how they work with Nuodėgulis, how they’ll run after calling the prime minister a ‘silly hen,’ how they’ll work with colleagues like that,” Žemaitaitis said, referencing past remarks by coalition partners.

The governing coalition currently holds 81 seats in the 141-member Seimas, comprising the Social Democrats, Nemuno aušra, and the Peasant Greens. The Social Democratic Party’s board was meeting Thursday to assess Nemuno aušra’s compliance with their agreement.

Širinskienė brought Nuodėgulis to the parliamentary chamber on Thursday as what she called a “symbol of the rulers’ arrogance.” The cat gained notoriety in December when opposition lawmakers, seeking to delay a vote on public broadcaster LRT’s leadership, jokingly proposed appointing it to oversee dismissals—a motion that unexpectedly passed in the late-hour session.

Žemaitaitis claimed the focus on his party’s actions was a distraction from broader state issues. “All attention is on me as the negative, on positioning, and through that, other matters are being covered up,” he said.