Government program submission flaws should not exist, says Širinskienė

Seimas Democrat fraction “For Lithuania” elder Agnė Širinskienė agrees with legal experts’ warnings that the government program may have been submitted without following the constitutional procedures, ELTA reports.

Širinskienė emphasized that such errors should not occur in a state under the rule of law, suggesting that the Constitutional Court should assess the situation. “It seems I would tend to agree with those legal experts who criticize the entire procedure that was carried out, as well as with the respected Professor Kūris, because indeed a non-existent entity registered the government program project, as the government program was registered before the decree that presents the ministers’ names. Undoubtedly, such blunders should not exist in a state under the rule of law,” she said on the show “ELTA week”.

“In this case, it seems that the review by the Constitutional Court would be meaningful to ensure we know the order, as there are many interpretations now. And undoubtedly, it will be a lesson for future governments on how to register government programs,” she added.

Širinskienė also noted that a similar practice was applied when submitting the government program of Ingrida Šimonytė. “The opposition, which is criticizing, should perhaps be reminded that Šimonytė’s government acted very similarly, except that the registration took place on the same day, but still, the program was registered first, and then the decree appointing the ministers,” she said.

Although Širinskienė believes that a Constitutional Court clarification would be meaningful in this situation, she states that she does not plan to sign the opposition-initiated appeal. “I will leave it to the opposition to sign; they have enough people to be able to appeal. So, it seems that the ruling parties’ help will not be needed here. But the risk of violating the Constitution, I think, is obvious to all legal experts. And I am very surprised that the Social Democratic Party and fraction, which have so much experience, simply do not notice such elementary things procedurally,” she said.

Liberals and conservatives working in the Seimas opposition are already preparing to submit a document to the Constitutional Court regarding the legitimacy of Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius’ government next week. According to Conservative leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas, they hope to collect signatures for the appeal by the end of July.

Public discussions on this issue began after Vilnius University law professor Egidijus Kūris told the news portal “15min” that the prime minister submitted the government program project before confirming the cabinet of ministers. The government program project was registered in the Seimas on July 3. Meanwhile, President Gitanas Nausėda signed the decree confirming the composition of the 21st government on July 6.

Sinkevičius himself stated that the government program was presented at the Seimas session after the president’s decree was signed. The chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) considered that the opposition is manipulating concepts.

ELTA reminds that the government changed after the Social Democrats reformed the ruling coalition and refused to cooperate with “Nemuno aušra”. Currently, the ruling coalition consists of the Seimas fractions of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Union “For Lithuania”, and the Lithuanian Farmers, Greens, and Christian Families Union (LVŽKŠS).