Sinkevičius jokes about coalition ahead of talks: the abusive husband is gone from the family

Social Democratic Party (LSDP) leaders are meeting with the Democratic Party “For Lithuania” to discuss forming a new coalition, LRT.lt reports.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, leader of the Democrats, stated that the most important factor in the negotiations is a shared vision, while ministerial positions are secondary. He acknowledged that reaching an agreement may be challenging.

The Social Democrats decided over the weekend to restructure the ruling majority formed last summer, removing Remigijus Žemaitaitis’ “Nemuno Aušra” party from the coalition. This marks the third ruling majority and government in a year and a half, following disagreements among coalition partners since the 2024 Seimas elections.

The Social Democrats have also initiated consultations with the Democrats, led by Sinkevičius, while planning to retain current coalition partners, the “Peasant Greens” led by Aurelijus Veryga.

Before the meeting, Sinkevičius joked about the coalition talks, saying: “You know, the first date is always awkward. Even if something happened before, we’ll see how it goes. They invited us, but only after a year. No, the relationship isn’t the same—the abusive husband is gone from the family,” referring to Žemaitaitis’ removal from the coalition.

Sinkevičius emphasized that the priority is aligning on the Democrats’ social and economic policy vision, including a strong family support package and reducing bureaucracy. He avoided discussing potential ministerial posts, stating that such talks would only follow agreement on a joint program.

He also noted that the Democrats support a broad government reshuffle, implying a change in the prime minister. “If we want an ambitious program, we’ll have to rewrite it, rewrite the action plan. That requires a government reshuffle,” Sinkevičius said.

The Democratic negotiation team includes Sinkevičius, Tomas Tomilinas, Lukas Savickas, Jekaterina Rojaka, Linas Kukuraitis, and Domas Griškevičius. The Social Democrats’ delegation consists of party leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius, Robertas Duchnevičius, Inga Ruginienė, and Orintas Leipus.