Politicians urge election commission member Matjošaitytė to resign

Most opposition and ruling-party representatives agree that Laura Matjošaitytė should resign from Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission, LRT reported, after it emerged that she had advised the Nemuno Aušra party as a lawyer and allegedly sought to conceal this.

“The situation that has gradually come to light in the public domain does not fully justify such conduct by a member of the Central Electoral Commission. We believe she should realise this,” Orinta Leiputė, head of the ruling Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary group, told BNS on Tuesday.

Leiputė said that if Matjošaitytė did not resign, the speaker of parliament could initiate a discussion in the parliamentary board about her future.

She said Matjošaitytė should have recused herself from matters related to Nemuno Aušra while serving on the commission, even if her public comments about the relationship between a lawyer and a potential client were understandable.

Domas Griškevičius, a deputy speaker of parliament and member of the Democrats, also said Matjošaitytė’s resignation would make it easier for several institutions to do their work.

“The investigation by the Chief Official Ethics Commission could probably answer many questions, but we understand that the answers will not come tomorrow or the day after. The correspondence that has become public, with suggestions to delete or conceal things, does not build trust,” he told BNS.

Griškevičius said the procedure for expressing no confidence in and dismissing a Central Electoral Commission member was complicated. More than half of all members of parliament must vote in favour of dismissing an official appointed by the Seimas.

He said Matjošaitytė’s personal decision to resolve the matter and allow the commission to continue working without questions about whether certain votes had been influenced would be the fairest solution. However, he added that she was free to decide for herself and that the issue would probably eventually be raised in parliament.

Dainius Gaižauskas, a member of the ruling Lithuanian Union of Peasants, Greens and Christian Families parliamentary group, said he currently saw no grounds to dismiss Matjošaitytė.

He said dismissal would be justified if she had advised the party to commit a criminal offence, falsify documents or bypass procedures. But if she had advised it on how to act without breaking the law, he questioned whether that in itself was sufficient grounds for dismissal.

Opposition conservatives and liberals announced on Monday that they were initiating a no-confidence procedure against Matjošaitytė. Conservative leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas said the conservatives had prepared a statement and would collect the 29 signatures required for the initiative.

Matjošaitytė is also a member of the LRT Council, but Kasčiūnas said the current initiative concerned her position only on the Central Electoral Commission.

“It seems to me that Matjošaitytė should realise this and resign herself. That would be the healthiest solution,” Kasčiūnas said.

According to the conservatives’ statement, the combination of circumstances already apparent was sufficient to conclude that Matjošaitytė no longer had the level of trust required of a commission member.

The parliamentary liberals also said they had asked the Ministry of Justice to assess whether Matjošaitytė had breached public and private interest requirements by secretly advising the party.

BNS was unable to reach Matjošaitytė for comment. Parliament appointed her to the commission on the recommendation of then-Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus.