„I am very sceptical about such appeals. They remind me of the times, which maybe someone still remembers in our country, when workers' collectives and telegrams were sent to the authorities of the time, condemning something or calling for some decision. On Friday, all political forces have defined their value lines, which does not affect us, „ Skvernelis told Žinių Radijas.
According to the former Prime Minister, after the elections, his party would not be able to work together with anti-Western, anti-Russian, anti-Semitic and anti-fascist political forces, as well as with politicians who question Lithuania's presence in NATO or the European Union.
As previously reported, more than 150 public figures from various fields have publicly appealed to President Gitanas Nausėda and the leaders of political parties, urging them not to tolerate politicians who deny fundamental constitutional values, break their oaths of office, and, in their view, threaten Lithuania.
According to the signatories of the letter, voting for politicians and political forces that are anti-Semitic and deny human rights and European values is a vote against Lithuania's statehood and Russian influence.
ELTA recalls that in April, the Constitutional Court ruled that MP Žemaitaitis broke his oath of office and grossly violated the Constitution by making anti-Semitic statements.
Following the Court's verdict, the Seimas should decide on the abolition of Žemaitaitis' mandate as a Member of the Seimas. If he is removed from the Seimas by impeachment, the politician cannot run for elective office for ten years. However, Žemaitaitis said he would resign from the Seimas.
Last year, Žemaitaitis posted anti-Semitic and ethnically divisive posts on the social network Facebook and in the mass media – according to the Seimas Commission, which considered the impeachment issue, the politician may have violated his oath of office as a member of the Seimas and grossly violated the Constitution.
Skvernelis assesses the proposal to declare the LKP a criminal organisation: it is a search for an artificial enemy.
Saulius Skvernelis, Chairman of the Democratic Union In the Name of Lithuania, says that some Conservatives' proposal to recognise the Lithuanian Communist Party (LCP) as an organisation that committed criminal acts is a lame attempt to find an artificial enemy.
„I think it is a search for an artificial, unfortunate enemy. Yes, some people should have been party members because they could not take up their positions (...). There were mid-level officials or civil servants who either should have been a party member or could not fulfil themselves and make a career there“, Skvernelis told Žinių Radijas.
The politician believed that people who were not part of the Communist Party structure but actively collaborated with the occupiers were much more dangerous.
„These are those who, although they were not members of the party at the time, were engaged in active propaganda, supporting the regime, complaining about people to the State Security Committee, the so-called KGB, and their „contribution“ is much greater than that of those who formally belonged to the party,“ the leader of In the Name of Lithuania stressed.
„Time passes, generations change, and just naturally there will be fewer and fewer such people. But to make the fact that formal presence puts some stain... Let's see what kind of parties emerged in 1990 in the presence of the same communists. And this is something that some are trying to forget easily“, Skvernelis said sceptically of the initiative.
On Wednesday, the Seimas Culture Committee approved an improved draft law proposing to declare the LKP as an organisation that has committed criminal acts.
Although the original draft wanted to declare the LKP a criminal organisation, the improved version, following comments from the Seimas Legal Department, opted for a softer wording.
The draft provides that LKP members who have held leading positions would be restricted from participating in Lithuanian political and diplomatic activities.
In addition, for such persons to participate in the elections, their affiliation and participation in the LCP's activities should be indicated on the Chief Electoral Commission (VRK) 's website and election poster.
Some politicians and historians have previously been critical of this initiative. According to them, the draft law is overdue, as most of those who belonged to the LCP are already dead.
According to data provided by the Central Electoral Commission (VRK), fifty former communists are seeking to enter the Seimas this year. The largest number of these people are on the electoral lists of the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union (LVŽS) and the Democratic Union In the Name of Lithuania, with ten politicians who were formerly members of the Communist Party trying to enter the Seimas.
