Prime minister sees possible conflict of interest in Matjošaitytė case

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius says a possible conflict between public and private interests may have arisen after former Central Electoral Commission chair Laura Matjošaitytė advised the Nemunas Dawn party before the 2024 parliamentary election, LRT reports.

Matjošaitytė, a lawyer, advised the party on membership fee issues and helped prepare its response to the Central Electoral Commission, according to information first reported by Delfi.

“I think the situation will be assessed, including the possible conflict of interests, overlapping representation at the Central Electoral Commission and the provision of legal services to the party,” Sinkevičius told reporters on Monday after meeting coalition partners.

The prime minister said he had not previously known about the situation. He also stressed that Matjošaitytė had provided the services as a private-practice lawyer.

“There is nothing wrong with that. Without a doubt, after becoming a member of the Central Electoral Commission, it would have been fair to declare the relationship and abstain from voting on related issues,” Sinkevičius said.

Delfi reported that Matjošaitytė became a member of the Central Electoral Commission shortly after advising Nemunas Dawn, but did not publicly disclose the consultations or recuse herself from considering related issues.

Asked whether the party had paid her for the services, Matjošaitytė declined to answer, saying the information was covered by professional legal secrecy.

Social Democrats to join inquiry discussions

Sinkevičius also said the Social Democratic Party would take part in future discussions by the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission on whether to open an investigation into the employment of party members at Raudondvaris Manor, a manor in Kaunas District.

“I think the Anti-Corruption Commission will meet at the beginning of September. The Social Democrats will take part in the discussions,” the prime minister said.

BNS reported that governing Social Democrats did not attend the commission’s meeting last week, where members had planned to decide whether to begin the investigation. The commission’s Social Democratic members Ramūnas Vyžintas, Lilija Vaitiekūnienė, Ilona Gelažnikienė and Roma Janušonienė neither attended in person nor joined remotely.

Artūras Zuokas and Ignas Vėgėlė, who belong to the Mixed Seimas Members’ Group, and Raimondas Šukys of the Nemunas Dawn party also did not attend.

LRT’s Investigations Department reported in mid-August that Raudondvaris Manor had become a workplace for people linked to the Social Democratic Party. The report said that Aistė Sinkevičienė, the prime minister’s wife, was receiving a second salary there.

It also said that Aurelija, the spouse of Kaunas District Mayor Valerijus Makūnas, had worked at the institution until several months earlier. Other employees reportedly include the mayor’s adviser Loreta Navakauskienė and her spouse, Education, Science and Sports Minister Raminta Popovienė’s adviser in the Seimas, Jūratė Kuzmickaitė, and the son of longtime manor director Snieguolė Navickienė.