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On Monday, the LRT Forum hosted a discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic and how Lithuania managed to manage it. The show was attended by candidates from the candidate parties for Prime Minister: representative of the Freedom Party, Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius, President of the Labor Party, Member of the European Parliament Viktoras Uspaskichas, representative of the National-Christian-Democratic Union of Lithuania, member from Seimas Ingrida Šimonytė and others.
The LVSS candidate for prime minister, S. Skvernelis, did not appear in the debate. Why? “Their representatives” tried to explain this in a letter.
“At this time, when the prime minister is in direct office, we cannot guarantee his participation in the debate,” they said, and the presenter read the letter live.
R. Karbauskis: The Prime Minister will not participate at all in the debate
Ramūnas Karbauskis, president of LVŽS, declared in the program “Informative Comments” that S. Skvernelis will not participate in any electoral debate.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Ramunas Karbauskis
“It has been a long time since we announced that Saulius Skvernelis will not participate in the debate. He will not participate in any debate because he is the current prime minister,” said the politician.
When asked if S. Skvernelis found out during the presidential election campaign, when he ran for the country’s leaders, R. Karbauskis answered no. According to him, the decision not to participate is related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We did not learn from any election here. We really appreciate the challenges facing the Government. Then we did not have the kind of challenges that we have now. The coronavirus was absent then.” Saulius Skvernelis’s position as prime minister is very important, he has the full responsibility for handling this situation, and we have made the decision that the election is not an issue that should sacrifice the quality of the prime minister’s work, “said the LVŽS leader.
Elections are not an issue that should sacrifice the quality of the prime minister’s work.
If the organizers allow it, in all other debates, the prime minister, according to him, will be replaced by another representative of the LVŽS.
15 minutes He asked Tomas Beržinskas, adviser to the Prime Minister, if he really has no intention of participating in any debate and why. The adviser indicated that S. Skvernelis would answer these questions on Wednesday, during a remote press conference after the government meeting.
And what about the behavior and explanations of the Prime Minister by my political scientists?
R.Urbonaitė: we did not receive a real explanation
Rima Urbonaitė, a professor at the Mykolas Romeris University, was the first to appreciate the Prime Minister’s explanatory letter on television. Among other things, she stated that Lithuania was probably the most successful country in Europe in overcoming the negative consequences caused by COVID-19, and that the country had suffered an economic crisis of the magnitude of 2009.
“The beginning, I would say, is tragicomic. It’s not even disrespectful to the electorate, but it doesn’t show self-respect. ” 15 minutes R. Urbonaitė commented.
According to her, the letter on behalf of the Prime Minister was at the initial level: “It seems to me that we have not received a real explanation. They ridiculed us of ourselves when opponents don’t even have to bother when the prime minister and his team do that. “
Photo by Lukas Balandi / 15min / Rima Urbonaitė
The political scientist recalled that during the presidential election campaign, S. Svvernel’s duties did not prevent him from participating in the debate.
“The explanation that I am the prime minister and will not participate in the debate on this now is, to say the least, comical.” We saw exactly the opposite situation during the presidential election, when there was an opportunity to participate in the debate despite that he was the prime minister, “he said.
R. Urbonaitė assumed it was an electoral strategy, but it was strange. In addition, she noted that S.Svvernelis has been avoiding attention in general lately: unlike the leaders of other parties, she did not participate in the presentation of the LV<2FEMININE>S program on Tuesday and then did not appear at the press conference on security during the
If you did not speak, others will speak for you.
“If you don’t speak, others will speak for you. The prime minister doesn’t seem to want to talk much,” he said, adding that only Russian President Vladimir Putin was not participating in the debate.
L. Bielinis: The prime minister never really has to rest
Professor Lauras Bielinis from Vytautas Magnus University looked at the situation very differently. The fact that S.Svvernelis did not attend the debate, according to him, should not be emphasized.
“Trust me, the prime minister is not the one who has time to rest and he doesn’t really know a lot of people, including journalists,” he added. 15 minutes commented L. Bielinis.
He supposed S. Skvernel was really overwhelmed with work, especially in the current period.
Now, to turn it into an event is to participate in the electoral campaign.
“I am not defending the Prime Minister and I do not want to condemn him, but I think that the government’s job just before the elections is likely to be extremely complicated. Now turning it into an event is participating in the electoral campaign ”, said the political scientist.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Laura Bielinis
G.Kazėnas: unequal struggle
Gediminas Kazėnas, associate professor at Mykolas Romeris University, connects S.Svvernelis’s decision not to participate with the topic of debate.
“It is understood that he, as a representative of the Government, would be in a very unequal position in such a debate, that is, one against all the others. And of course it would probably be difficult for him to defend himself, to refute the accusations and accusations, ”he said, and said that this would not be seen as disrespectful to the voters.
It would probably be humanly difficult to defend.
G. Kazėnas considered that LVŽS could delegate the debate to another representative, however, the rules of the LRT Forum do not allow it.
The Seimas elections will be held on October 11. Read more about them and their participants in a special 15 minutes column Elections 2020.
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