Candidates proposed for Lithuanian parliament deputy speaker roles

Lithuanian parliament speaker Juozas Olekas has registered draft resolutions proposing Domas Griškevičius and social democrat Jūratė Zailskienė as candidates for deputy speaker positions, reports ELTA via LRT.

Griškevičius is deputy chair of the ruling coalition’s Democratic Fraction “For Lithuania”. Zailskienė currently serves as acting minister of social security and labour in the outgoing government of Ingrida Šimonytė.

The proposals follow planned changes to the deputy speaker team. Olekas has also submitted a draft resolution to dismiss Raimondas Šukys, first deputy speaker from the “Nemuno aušra” group, after his resignation. Daiva Žebelienė from the same party will also leave her deputy speaker role.

The full parliament will vote on the dismissals and new appointments. The reshuffle comes after the leading Social Democratic Party decided to restructure the ruling coalition and end cooperation with Remigijus Žemaitaitis’ “Nemuno aušra”.

In May, parliament approved statutory amendments allowing Olekas to have an eighth deputy speaker. Currently, he has seven deputies: Rasa Budbergytė, Orinta Leiputė, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, Šukys, Žebelienė, and Aušrinė Norkienė.