Lithuanian conservatives and liberals consider constitutional court appeal over Sinkevičius government legitimacy

Opposition conservatives and liberals in Lithuania are considering an appeal to the Constitutional Court over the legitimacy of Social Democrat Mindaugas Sinkevičius’ government, LRT reports.

The critics argue the Constitution was violated when the government’s programme was registered on July 3, while the cabinet itself was only approved by presidential decree on July 7.

“If the Social Democrats do not stop this tomorrow and re-register the programme, we will have to turn to the Constitutional Court for an assessment, because legally, the process must be clean,” Liberal Movement leader Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen told BNS on Monday.

She described the sequence as a fundamental issue, questioning whose government the programme actually belongs to. “As we see it, this is not the programme of the XXI Government,” she said.

The Seimas statute requires a government programme to be registered with the Seimas secretariat and published online at least 24 hours before its presentation. Since July 6 was a public holiday, the programme was registered on the nearest working day, July 3.

Čmilytė-Nielsen also noted that incoming Finance Minister Taurimas Valys, who attended a meeting with the Liberal faction, could not specify the funding needed to implement the programme’s commitments and suggested the financial section might need review. She added that Valys was not even a ministerial candidate when the programme was drafted.

Conservative MP Giedrė Balčytytė said her faction is seriously considering a Constitutional Court appeal if the government continues to act as if it existed on July 3. She argued that the presidential decree is a prerequisite for the government programme to exist.

Former Constitutional Court President Egidijus Kūris told 15min that the submission of the XXI Government’s programme to the Seimas is “null and void,” emphasising that constitutional procedures must be followed.

Social Democratic Party faction elder Orinta Leiputė insisted all constitutional and legal requirements had been met.