Justice minister says Matjošaitytė case damages electoral commission

Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė said the case involving Laura Matjošaitytė did not reflect well on Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission, LRT reported. She said the ministry would encourage parliament to consider a no-confidence procedure only after responsible institutions had completed their assessments.

“The Electoral Code does not provide for a dismissal procedure. In fact, members delegated by the justice minister and the Lithuanian Lawyers’ Association are approved by the Seimas,” Tamašunienė told Verslo žinios on Monday. She said the Seimas could begin a no-confidence procedure and that the ministry could also call on Matjošaitytė to resign.

Tamašunienė said the situation appeared to involve a confusion of public and private interests. However, she said she would wait for objective assessments because Matjošaitytė denies that any interests were confused.

The minister said she expected independent members of the electoral commission to work impartially. She added that the allegations concerning Matjošaitytė did not reflect well on the commission, whose other members are largely delegated by political parties.

“These independent members, delegated by the justice minister and the Lithuanian Lawyers’ Association, are supposed to guarantee impartial decisions on complaints and issues involving a particular party or situation,” Tamašunienė said.

Investigations into consultations for Nemunas Dawn

The Lithuanian Bar Association decided last Friday to investigate legal services that Matjošaitytė, a lawyer and member of the Central Electoral Commission, allegedly provided to the Nemunas Dawn party without declaring them.

According to Bar Association spokeswoman Rūta Andriuškaitė, the investigation will examine whether Matjošaitytė’s actions complied with the Law on the Bar and the Lithuanian Code of Professional Conduct for Lawyers.

The electoral commission also opened an investigation last Thursday. Its chairwoman, Lina Petronienė, said the commission had repeatedly asked Nemunas Dawn about the consultations, but the party had provided only formal responses.

The commission said on Monday that metadata showed Matjošaitytė had prepared Nemunas Dawn’s response to questions concerning membership fees two years ago. Nine commission members voted in favour of the decision, one abstained and one recused themselves.

Complaints concerning Matjošaitytė have been received by the Central Electoral Commission, the Lithuanian Bar Council and the Chief Official Ethics Commission. The latter decided to collect additional information before determining whether to open an investigation.

The opposition Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats collected the signatures needed to ask the Seimas to consider dismissing Matjošaitytė from the electoral commission. The proposal was signed by lawmakers from the conservative, Liberal and For the Good of Lithuania parliamentary groups, but the Seimas Board decided not to include it on the agenda of the following Thursday’s plenary sitting.

The questions arose after the Delfi news portal reported that Matjošaitytė may have advised Nemunas Dawn before the 2024 parliamentary elections and helped the party prepare a response to the electoral commission. Party leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis said Nemunas Dawn had consulted her on various matters but had not paid her. Matjošaitytė also said she had received “not a single euro” for the consultations.

The electoral commission said it had found no expenses for Matjošaitytė’s legal services in Nemunas Dawn’s financial documents.