Lithuanian artists’ association delays vote for LRT council delegate

The Lithuanian Creators’ Association (LMKA) has postponed its vote to select a delegate for the council of Lithuania’s national broadcaster LRT, citing procedural disagreements among its board members, LRT reports.

Association president Jonas Staselis, who currently serves on LRT’s council, confirmed that no decision was reached during Monday’s meeting due to conflicting interpretations of selection procedures. The vote will now take place next week after clarifying the rules.

“There was no white smoke today because the board did not agree on certain procedural matters—some interpret them one way, others another,” Staselis told the ELTA news agency. He noted that members will use the coming week to “define the procedures very concretely, discuss all possible and impossible procedural options, and then vote on the same candidates.”

Staselis declined to specify the exact point of contention but described the broader selection process as “highly politicised,” with external pressure and legal interpretations complicating the decision. “In Lithuania, courts have the final say, not lawyers or attorneys,” he said, adding that the association aims to resolve the matter internally.

Three candidates are under consideration for the LMKA’s delegate seat: Daiva Daugirdienė, chair of the Lithuanian Literary Translators’ Association; Staselis himself; and poet and prose writer Alvydas Šlepikas.

Under current law, LRT’s 12-member council comprises four appointees each from the president, parliament, and public organisations. The latter group includes delegates from the Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference, the Lithuanian Council of Science, the LMKA, and the Lithuanian Education Council. The bishops have nominated Ramutė Ruškytė, an advisor to Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė, who has pledged to resign from political roles to comply with LRT’s conflict-of-interest rules. The Education Council plans to present its candidate at a May 11 meeting.