Peasants’ Legacy to Conservatives: Questionable Coronavirus Statistics and Life “Like a Bomb”

The interlocutors interviewed by Delfi assure that the change of government will not take place at the quietest moment. It is true that there will be a “peasant” legacy like 13 pension promises or a DNA plan. Plus, navigating a chaotic coronavirus control kitchen won’t be that easy.

Remnant: life itself is already a bomb for them

Professor Šarūnas Liekis of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) is convinced that the rulers don’t even need to lay some mines specifically for their successors, life will not be merciful to them anyway.

“I think life itself is a bomb, you don’t even have to create anything. Faced with one problem or another, even with a pandemic (obviously we will jump to thousands of cases a day), then we will see how one or the other government works, what measures are taken ”, Š commented. Liekis.

The VMU professor emphasized that the State works according to legal principles and each interprets them in their own way.

“There are laws that apply. Now I don’t think there is time for someone to drop some kind of bomb. This would require changes to the law. Usually when you work, you organize normally – you organize for yourself, not someone else. Others can always interpret former politicians as bombs, but basically it is life itself that creates problems. They never end, “said Š. Liekis.

The political scientist does not believe that conservatives who have not avoided criticizing the ruling so far are suddenly at the epicenter of criticism.

“It just came to our attention then. But it is obvious when the resource will work inert for their benefit until now, and the criticism will not be very strong if they do not make radical mistakes,” said Š. Liekis.

He doubts the ability of the “peasants” to mobilize the will to do something

Political scientist working in the team of the then Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, associate professor at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) dr. Virgis Valentinavičius does not believe that the current rulers have many resources to schedule additional problems for the future government for the remainder of the term.

However, thinking in the field of state spending, he recalled the promise of Ramūnas Karbauskis, president of the Lithuanian Green Union of Peasants, that they would try to make a decision on the thirteenth pension. At the same time, he recognized that this will not be easy to do.

“The opportunities to do something during the rest of the period in the Seimas, I think, are very limited, because the decline and demoralization are already working. It has not been possible to organize the members of the Seimas for the votes of the” peasants “during a long time, and now it will be even more difficult when half the faction is “in the suitcases”, commented V. Valentinavičius.

The political scientist doubted that the Government would be involved in the strategies of demining the heirs from the political field.

“Judging by the resignation and the reduced membership of R. Karbauskis and S. Skvernelis, I don’t think they could do anything really serious. It has been difficult for them all the time to make decisions, implement them and do something in peace, and here, after such a painful defeat, we have to do more than hand over firearms, I don’t think it will be done, “said V. Valentinavičius .

According to him, the real field of problems lies in what Ingrida Šimonytė is talking about: that the minefields are programmed in the so-called economic DNA.

“It is really necessary to take it seriously – how many ideas of ‘peasants’ are left there, for example, to establish a state bank, state pharmacies? How much of the supposed investment promotion, which is really a contribution of money to use in the future? ”commented V. Valentinavičius.

Trap – 13 pension

Professor Romas Lazutka from Vilnius University (VU) also told Delfi that pension number 13 is the main trap for the new majority in the Seimas. According to the economist, such populist promises have raised people’s expectations, but this issue is not included in the budget bill.

“There was the issue of those thirteen pensions that are not really in the budget, and everything else is in the budget. And it included those things that were already in the law. Suppose an increase in a child’s money, it may have been included in last year’s law that increases from next year. There have been no new decisions, this is not unexpected and is foreseen in the draft budget.

For that 13 retirement, here is a bit of a cheat, because now the people have elected the Conservatives, and after the submission, several Conservatives have voted. “If suddenly they no longer support the law (the Delfi law), people who want that pension or support this idea will be able to say that they have been deceived,” said the professor.

According to R. Lazultka, it is simply not possible to implement the thirteenth pension idea, because there are no funds provided for it. However, he said, it could become the pain that conservatives will once again stir before their eyes for years to come.

“Now it can be a question of reputation that they can reappear before them, as they did with the reduced pensions a decade ago. They will say – behold, they have taken away the 13 promised retirement from us and they will starve for a decade that they are suffering,” he said. laughed the professor.

Another problem, according to him, may be the modification of the Sodra Pension Law, which was already approved by the Seimas after its presentation.

“If the economy is in decline, pensions are not indexed under current law.” Farmers have proposed an amendment that despite the economic recession, they can remain indexed and the Sodra budget does not appear to increase pensions by seven percent. cent, “Lazutka said. He stressed that challenges would arise if Sodra’s budget were in deficit.

It will be necessary to clarify the real situation of the coronavirus

For his part, Saulius Čaplinskas, director of the Center for Communicable Diseases and AIDS (ULAC), assured that the new government will have the challenge of focusing on the management of the pandemic and knowing the real situation of Covid-19 in the country.

“It just came to our notice then. See, the fact is that on April 23, when the operating system was still managed by ULAC, we noticed a discrepancy, a duplication of the Covid results. When we raised this issue, we found that we had reduced 100 cases in one day. As of that date, ULAC no longer receives information on Covid cases. The question is: why?

What happened now? “It coincided and did not coincide with the elections, this is another issue here, but suddenly 200 cases increased in two hours, remembering what happened in April raises many questions,” said S. Čaplinskas.

The epidemiologist has not ruled out the possibility that the outgoing government tries to make it even more difficult to enter the management of the pandemic.

“If it is clear that epidemiological data have been questioned for a long time, if they raise questions, if they are not analyzed, if we do not rely on these data in response, because they simply do not exist, (…) just some scattered numbers and bans We cannot rule out that there are already programs in which there may be problems, “said the professor.

The interlocutor did not doubt that during the period prior to the change of government, the epidemiologist’s situation could worsen and the new government would begin to work in a very threatening situation. When asked whether in such a case there would still be time to gather the specialists mentioned by Ingrida Šimonytė at a table and whether it would be possible to find time for longer discussions before making one or the other decision, S. Čaplinskas replied:

“There is no other way. What you are saying means that what has not been done so far will be very costly for everyone. Everyone knows that building a house with new foundations is probably much easier and cheaper than renovating an old house with foundations in bad condition. If the house was with the foundations. In this case, the question is what those foundations were. “

If you try to capture your own shots, there will be noise

The political scientist V. Valentinavičius stated that he did not believe that the rulers recently occupied their additional staff in the public administration.

“It just came to our attention then. Each ministry has received its own” police “. All these cases are known and it will be a matter for future ministers how to deal with them,” said V. Valentinavičius.

In his opinion, that scenario is also unlikely in the diplomatic corps.

“There is pushing on the embassies between Gitan Nausėda, the Seimas and the Government. But again, the result of the election determines that the voice of the government and the rulers is the one that means the least in this situation. It is more useful for G. Nausėda to resolve those problems with the new rulers, ”said V. Valentinavičius.

According to him, it would be difficult to predict that a brilliant “peasant” was hired somewhere.

“It just came to our attention then. Also, the government is respected in Lithuania. The fact that this power is already a ‘beaten card’ means that it is three times more difficult to do something real for it. At the level of officials, ministries, there is a natural resistance: why do we have to do any service to this government if it leaves in a few weeks? Everyone is thinking about the future government, “said V. Valentinavičius.

The political scientist believes that the “peasants” have more serious issues than creating problems for the heirs.

“I imagine that the ‘peasants’ and S. Skvernelis himself have more interesting questions, how will the evidence purchase cases play out? Finally, the Chief Service Ethics Commission also discovered the political will to re-interest in the Jaroslav Narkevich’s scandals still remain. (…) S. Skvernelis knows that he will no longer be on Gedimino avenue. 11 in two to three weeks, and the Special Investigation and Financial Crimes Services are working on acquisitions cases during the spring heat of the pandemic, and something will come out. I wonder who, “” said V. Valentinavičius.