Kaunas offers MPs unsuitable offices, politicians say

Several MPs elected in single-member constituencies in Kaunas say the city should provide premises for meetings with voters but instead offers spaces that are unsuitable or too far from their constituents, LRT reported.

Liberal MP Simonas Kairys said the municipality had rented offices to two MPs during the current parliamentary term but had not found suitable premises for him in the Centre–Žaliakalnis constituency, where he was elected.

“The municipality must ensure that MPs elected in single-member constituencies have the conditions to work there,” Kairys told LRT. He said property rents in central Kaunas were expensive and that he had been forced to use parliamentary funds to rent an office because the city had not offered a suitable alternative.

Kairys said the municipality had previously provided equipped offices for MPs at premises on Šv. Gertrūdos Street, but now either said it had no suitable spaces or offered locations that did not meet modern needs.

He said MPs had received negative responses even after asking the municipality to provide legal grounds for its decisions. Kairys also criticised what he described as the city’s selective approach to cooperation with politicians and central government officials.

Recent reports said Kairys and Liberal leader Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen were the MPs who spent the most on renting premises with parliamentary funds. Each spent more than 4,500 euros on office rent over six months.

Conservative MP Arvydas Anušauskas, who was elected in Kaunas’s Kalniečiai constituency, said he had also contacted the municipality but was offered premises unsuitable for parliamentary work and meetings with voters.

He said the first location was outside his constituency. The municipality then offered premises within the constituency, next to a funeral services company.

Anušauskas said the premises were not fitted out, were difficult to find and could only be reached through a garage and corridors. He added that people with even minor mobility difficulties would not be able to access them.

The municipality later suggested using a community hall, Anušauskas said, but he questioned whether it was appropriate to take space used by the community for its own meetings and activities.

Kairys said similar problems existed in municipalities beyond Kaunas. MPs may use parliamentary funds to cover office expenses, which he said provided a temporary solution.