Lithuanian speaker sees no need to change ruling coalition, final decision expected Saturday

Lithuania’s parliamentary speaker Juozas Olekas has reiterated that he sees no grounds to alter the current ruling coalition, though the final stance will be announced after the Social Democratic Party’s (LSDP) council meeting this Saturday, LRT reports.

“I don’t think there’s a need [to change the coalition], but you’ll hear everything on Saturday,” Olekas told journalists at the Seimas on Thursday. He declined to predict the party’s decision, stating: “I’m no fortune-teller. If I were, I could tell you.”

LSDP leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius confirmed that three potential scenarios for the coalition’s future will be presented during the party council session. Earlier this week, Olekas had asserted that the coalition’s composition would remain unchanged.

Tensions within the coalition escalated after some governing partners in the Seimas opposed the establishment of a military training ground in Kapčiamestis. Sinkevičius, then acting as interim party chair, had pledged to clarify his position on coalition cooperation during the LSDP congress in early May but postponed the announcement, citing the need to assess all circumstances.

Criticism of the current coalition with the “Nemuno aušra” (New Dawn) party has come from both LSDP members and President Gitanas Nausėda. Last month, raids by the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) at the homes and offices of “Nemuno aušra” leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis and his deputy Daiva Petkevičienė prompted Nausėda to state that precise investigative work would help “purge the political environment of things that shouldn’t be there.”

LSDP deputy chair Robertas Duchnevičius previously suggested that the raids could negatively impact the party’s future in the coalition. Sinkevičius has acknowledged minimal discussions with the opposition “Vardan Lietuvos” (For Lithuania) faction, a claim echoed by its Seimas group leader Lukas Savickas, who noted that such talks have been ongoing for six months.

The current ruling coalition consists of the Social Democrats, “Nemuno aušra,” and the Lithuanian Farmers, Greens, and Christian Families Union.