Vilnius opposition walks out over council rule changes

Twenty-two opposition politicians left a Vilnius City Council meeting in protest as the council considered changes to its rules of procedure, with most not returning. LRT reported, citing BNS.

Independent council member Aleksandras Nemunaitis said the group included members of the Social Democrats, Vilnius Can, the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania-Christian Families Alliance and the National Union. Vilnius Can faction leader Vydūnas Sadauskas said eight members of his faction had left. Nemunaitis said only the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats and Freedom Party factions remained in the chamber. Two National Union members later returned.

The opposition was protesting the governing majority’s decision to continue considering the proposed amendments. It had called for the issue to be removed from the meeting agenda, a move supported by all political groups except the governing Conservatives, according to Nemunaitis. Mayor Valdas Benkunskas declined to remove it.

The council approved one of three proposed changes. The adopted amendment says the main committee should consider a draft decision after other committees have issued their conclusions, and should assess and summarise all submitted material and proposals from the public and other committees.

Two other proposals were rejected. One would have allowed a draft decision to go without a presentation if no council member objected or if a majority agreed. The other would have allowed the council not to invite a presenter when the main committee had approved a draft without comments.

The municipality said the changes were intended to make council work and decision-making faster. Nemunaitis called the way the proposal was split up for consideration a procedural violation, arguing that the amendments should have been registered separately. Sadauskas said the process would speed up work at the expense of transparency.

Edvardas Varoneckas, head of the municipality’s Legal Group, said the rules should be changed more extensively. He said the proposed amendment followed consultations with a representative of the government and concerned removing one stage in the process. Vilnius City Council has 51 members, including a 28-member governing coalition of Conservatives and the Freedom Party.