Politicians to question parliament chief and STT director over hiring concerns

Lithuania’s parliament will question its chancellor, Algirdas Stončaitis, and Special Investigation Service Director Linas Pernavas over concerns about potentially non-transparent hiring procedures at the parliamentary administration, LRT reported.

The Seimas board discussed additional explanations from the Special Investigation Service on Monday and decided that a working group would review the information. The group has also received explanations from the State Governance Agency about the hiring procedures.

Social Democrat Orinta Leiputė, a member of the working group, said the second letter from the Special Investigation Service did not indicate that criminal acts may have been committed during hiring at parliament.

“In principle, the second letter repeats the first, perhaps in a shorter and more specific form. But no particular actions are disclosed to us,” Leiputė told ELTA. She said the information appeared to be preventive and did not provide grounds for politicians to approach law enforcement.

Opposition Liberal Movement parliamentary group leader Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen said the Special Investigation Service’s decision to warn the Seimas board was unusual and had created a climate of distrust.

She said the additional explanation had not made the situation clearer and appeared to raise questions about Stončaitis’s role. According to Čmilytė-Nielsen, the concerns related to people allegedly being hired according to criteria other than their suitability for the positions.

Čmilytė-Nielsen said she had proposed launching an official inspection at the parliamentary administration, but lawmakers did not support the proposal.

The working group ultimately agreed to invite both Stončaitis and Pernavas for discussions. Pernavas is expected to be invited next week.

The Special Investigation Service reported in June that there could be systemic violations and risks in the parliamentary administration’s hiring procedures, including possible abuse of an exception related to recruitment.