Seimas elects Jūratė Zailskienė and Domas Griškevičius as deputy speakers

The Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, has elected social democrat Jūratė Zailskienė and Domas Griškevičius of the Democratic “For Lithuania” faction as its new deputy speakers, reports LRT.

In a secret ballot, 82 lawmakers voted in favor of Griškevičius, with 14 against and 12 abstentions. Two ballots were found invalid. Zailskienė received support from 69 parliament members, while 23 voted against and 17 abstained. One ballot was deemed invalid.

Zailskienė previously served as Minister of Social Security and Labour but will now return to her former position, as Inga Ruginienė, who is stepping down as prime minister, is set to take over the role in the government led by designated Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius.

Zailskienė stated that her experience in municipal governance and her tolerant approach would contribute to the consistent work of the Seimas. Griškevičius, whose party recently joined the ruling coalition, said his procedural knowledge and personal qualities would aid him in his new role.

Griškevičius may take over some functions previously performed by Raimondas Šukys, who was dismissed as deputy speaker after his party, “Nemuno aušra,” ended its coalition agreement with the social democrats. As a result, the party now holds only one deputy speaker position instead of two.

The Seimas statute allows for up to eight deputy speakers. Currently, alongside Zailskienė and Griškevičius, the other deputy speakers are social democrats Rasa Budbergytė and Orinta Leiputė, liberal Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, conservative Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, “valstietė” Aušrinė Norkienė, and “aušrietė” Daiva Žebelienė.

The current majority coalition, comprising the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, the Democratic “For Lithuania,” and the Lithuanian Farmers, Greens, and Christian Families Union factions, holds 75 seats in the Seimas.