In the Žinių Radijas programme, signatories Vaitiekūnas and Aleksandras Abišala discuss the new ruling coalition, the future Prime Minister and prospects.
Taking to the streets
On Thursday, the new Lithuanian Seimas was sworn in at the March 11th Hall. However, the escalation over the presence of Nemuno Aušra in the coalition continues unabated, with its leader Žemaitaitis crossing the threshold of a court case over anti-Semitic statements and having already resigned from the last Seimas after an unfavourable decision of the Constitutional Court.
On Thursday, a thousand-strong protest was also held in Independence Square in Vilnius and several other Lithuanian cities to express dissatisfaction.
President Gitanas Nausėda has also called the coalition with Nemuno Aušra a mistake. Andrius Kubilius, a Conservative and former Prime Minister, added that the question is what other mistakes will be made by the Prime Minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas, who has agreed to have such partners as the Dawn breakers.
What do the signatories of the Act of Independence, Aleksandras Abišala and Petras Vaitiekūnas, think about this situation?
Unique in one respect
Aleksandras Abišala, a signatory of the Act of Independence and former Prime Minister, said during the programme that the mere election of the party Nemuno Dawn, led by Remigijus Žemaitaitis, which is accused of anti-Semitism, to the Seimas would not be a unique situation in a European context.
„This is not a uniquely Lithuanian situation. Parties of the type of Remigijus Žemaitaitis get into parliaments all over Europe: in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia and elsewhere. We are not the first.
But everywhere else, such parties are usually categorically kept out of power while it is still possible. We are unique in accepting such a party so far,“ Abišala assessed.
The signatory acknowledged that a large number of Lithuanian voters cast their vote for Žemaitaitis, but Abišala questioned whether this choice of voters is linked to anti-Semitism.
„It is hardly worth talking about a choice because Žemaitaitis has been declared an anti-Semite. I think this, as elsewhere, is mainly a protest against life as it is, regardless of who is to blame for it.
However, it is precisely because such parties pose a risk—the same risk that the National Socialist Party in Germany posed in 1933—that they are trying to keep them out of power.
They are represented in Parliament, with all the rights of parliamentarians, but they do not participate in the executive. Why we did not do this is a separate discussion“, said Mr Abišala.
The fundamental mistake – Paluckas
At the same time, Petras Vaitiekūnas, a signatory of the Act of Independence and a former diplomat, disagreed with the presenter's suggestion that perhaps, in this case, the will of the voters should be respected and no big drama should be made.
„We need to make a drama because the presence of Žemaitaitis in the coalition is a threat to national security. This needs to be stated straightforwardly. The people voted for such a party and, as Mr Abišala said, in many parts of Europe, such anti-Semitic parties, even with a whiff of Nazism, get into Parliament. Let them be in Parliament.
But the biggest mistake is not the presence of Mr Žemaitaitis in Parliament, but of Mr Paluckas, whose actions are a mistake because they are leading Lithuania to a weaker national security.
It was not possible to persuade the party Chairwoman, Blinkevičiūtė, to do what he did for personal interests – to secure a guaranteed vote in the Seimas because even many party members will not support Paluckas' candidacy for the premiership“ Vaitiekūnas said.
In any case, the diplomat is convinced that the presence of Žemaitaitis and Nemuno Aušra in the government threatens Lithuania's national security.
„No matter what Žemaitaitis says, he has already apologised and will be able to apologise, but there is a decision of the Constitutional Court; it has not been changed.
Our partners in Europe and America focus on decisions made officially in Lithuania.
In the West, in Europe, there are already doubts about Lithuania's path. „There is no way that Paluckas can be passed over for the premiership,“ Vaitiekūnas said.
The role of the Prosecutor's Office
For his part, Abišala said that changes were no longer possible because of Nemuno Aušra's presence in the coalition or Paluckas's becoming Prime Minister.
„I think that for now, for a while, as the President also mentioned, this government will exist; it will exist. What will happen to Žemaitaitis if the Prosecutor's Office demands lifting his legal immunity – I don't know if he will really keep his word to leave.
That would change the situation quite seriously. In that case, the group could also fall apart, and then it would not be quite clear whether or not this Nemuno Aušra is staying in the Seimas or who it is. And maybe it could correct the situation,“ said Abišala.
According to the signatory, it will be challenging for Paluckas himself.
„And his criminal record doesn't add up. The position of Prime Minister is not just a chair and a desk – it is also political leadership. To be a strong leader, you need to have trust. Trust, even in the Social Democratic Party, is squeezed out by that strange arithmetical calculation.
I think that it will not be easy for him, especially as, in the eyes of a large part of the public, who are better educated, who have a better understanding of politics, and, let us not hide it, who earn more money, he is unlikely to be able to make it.
God forbid, because it would only be better for Lithuania if the government were rational, strong enough, but not strong enough to turn in the direction where Žemaitaitis is trying to turn, but strong enough to try to regain the trust of its partners in Lithuania,“ Abišala pointed out.
