Electoral commission opens probe into Matjošaitytė’s services for Nemunas Dawn

Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission has opened an investigation into services provided by its member Laura Matjošaitytė to the political party Nemunas Dawn while she was working as a lawyer, LRT reported.

The commission acted after it emerged that a legal document on the party’s sources of funding, submitted to the commission by Nemunas Dawn in 2024, had been prepared by Matjošaitytė. Neither the party nor Matjošaitytė declared their previous cooperation.

Nine commission members voted in favour of the investigation, while Justas Pankauskas abstained. Edita Karčiauskienė, who was appointed to the commission by Nemunas Dawn, recused herself from the vote. Matjošaitytė did not attend Thursday’s meeting.

The investigation was assigned to the commission’s Political Parties and Political Campaign Financing Control Division and must be completed by December 17.

Commission chair Lina Petronienė said the investigation was needed to establish the scope and nature of the services provided to the party. She said the inquiry would be limited to the party’s financing under the Electoral Code and the Law on Political Organisations.

Petronienė said she could not take steps to remove Matjošaitytė from the commission because only the institution that appointed her, the Seimas, could do so. She also urged commission members to assess potential conflicts of interest involving Matjošaitytė more carefully in future.

Commission member Jolita Baušytė said that a free consultation did not by itself mean there was no financial issue. Andrius Vaišnys also supported the investigation, saying the commission had already collected some of the necessary information.

Petronienė said the information provided by Nemunas Dawn was of limited value. According to her, the party cited attorney client privilege after the commission’s first request for information and provided essentially nothing further after its second request.

The Chief Official Ethics Commission is also examining the cooperation between Matjošaitytė and Nemunas Dawn. It is expected to decide whether to investigate a possible conflict between the commission member’s public and private interests.

Matjošaitytė chaired the Central Electoral Commission from 2017 to 2021. She returned as a commission member in 2025 after her candidacy was put forward by then Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus, who had been delegated by Nemunas Dawn.

After initially declining to say whether she had been paid by the party, Matjošaitytė later said she had not earned any money from it. She has refused to comment on the details of her professional relationship with Nemunas Dawn, citing attorney client privilege.