Democrats allocate new Seimas posts, propose Griškevičius as deputy speaker

The Democratic Union “For Lithuania” party, which recently joined the ruling coalition, has distributed its allocated positions in the Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament, BNS reports.

Domas Griškevičius will be nominated for the position of deputy speaker, confirmed Virginijus Sinkevičius, the acting leader of the Democrats. Deputy speakers are appointed through a secret ballot in parliament.

Algirdas Butkevičius will be proposed as chair of the Energy and Sustainable Development Committee, Jekaterina Rojaka for the Economy and Innovation Committee, and Tomas Tomilinas for the Social Affairs and Labour Committee. They will replace representatives from the “Nemuno aušra” party, which is no longer part of the ruling coalition.

The Democrats also announced candidates for ministerial positions this week: Lukas Savickas for energy minister, Kęstutis Mažeika for agriculture minister, and Linas Kukuraitis for health minister. Savickas currently serves as the senior member of the Democrats’ faction in the Seimas but will step down if appointed as minister, Sinkevičius confirmed. The faction will elect a new senior member, though the candidate has not yet been determined.

Following the redistribution of posts in the Seimas, the Social Democratic Party proposed Andrius Busila to chair the Health Affairs Committee, replacing Lina Šukytė-Korsakė from “Nemuno aušra”.

In mid-June, the ruling coalition agreement was signed by the senior members of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Union “For Lithuania”, and the Lithuanian Farmers, Greens and Christian Families Union. The coalition holds 75 seats in the Seimas.