In addition to five minutes, “one in three in the state”: from a chess champion to the Speaker of the Seimas

On Friday, the Seimas of the new mandate will meet for the first session.

One of the most important tasks ahead of you is the election of a new Speaker of Parliament.

The center-right coalition delegates V. Čmilytė-Nielsen to this position.

Although there was a case in which the politicians delegated to the Presidents of the Seimas did not receive the necessary parliamentary support, this was the case in 2008 of Arūnas Valinskas, who was elected “one of the three most important state officials” for the second time, not the case of V. Čmilytė-Nielsen.

R. Karbauskis proposal rejected

Irena Degutienė, a conservative who served as President of the Seimas in 2009-2012 and resigned from Seimas and served as Speaker of Parliament in 2009-2012, does not skimp on the kind words of V. Čmilyte-Nielsen.

In his opinion, the leader of the Liberal Movement has qualities that are very necessary for the Speaker of the Seimas, such as communicability, tolerance and adequate reaction.

“She is a person who can come together, not divide, seek compromises, because somewhere you have to reconcile and descend, and at the same time, as I say, attract. These are really the characteristics of his character that are also characteristic of a chess player, because all the movements must be well thought out, not rush anywhere and not scratch, ”said I. Degutienė.

He is a man who can come together, not divide, seeking compromises, because somewhere you have to reconcile and descend, and at the same time, as I say, attract.

V.Čmilytė-Nielsen adapts and likes not only the rulers, but also, say, the “peasants” who will now work in the opposition.

They promise to support his candidacy for parliamentary leadership.

Furthermore, Ramūnas Karbauskis, leader of the Lithuanian Union of Greens and Peasants, offered him the position of Spokesperson of the Seimas a year ago, seeking the resignation of Viktoras Pranckietis.

V.Čmilytė-Nielsen rejected the offer.

At the time, a politician wrote on Facebook that her main goal was to make the party grow and perform well in the elections.

“The positions or high positions in the Seimas are secondary issues and it is not my priority. Therefore, after consulting with the members of my faction, I decided to leave the position of Speaker of the Seimas that was proposed to me,” he wrote in his account of Facebook in September 2019.

The positions or high positions in the Seimas are secondary and are not my priority.

At the same time, the MP added that the mistakes of the rulers continue to tarnish the reputation of the Seimas, and the Liberal Movement faction will not become a tool to solve the rulers’ problems.

Immediately after the Seimas elections, in which the Liberal Movement won 13 parliamentary seats, V. Čmilytė-Nielsen spoke about the party’s candidacy for the post of Speaker of Parliament.

It is true that some parliamentarians wonder if V. Čmilytė-Nielsen could lead the Seimas.

Watching the debate over the Liberal Movement’s ambitions for the post of Speaker of Parliament, Vytautas Bakas said it was hard to imagine how the trial party could appoint, for example, a Supreme Court judge.

From the ordinary to the president

V.Čmilytė-Nielsen’s work experience as a politician is just over five years.

Although she ran for the Seimas on the Liberal Movement list in 2012, she was not elected at the time.

V.Čmilytė-Nielsen became a parliamentarian for the first time in early 2015, when Remigijus Šimašius changed the mandate from a member of the Seimas to the position of mayor of Vilnius.

In the same year, he also joined the Liberal Movement.

According to V.Čmilytė-Nielsen, the spirit, values ​​and ideas of liberalism have fascinated her from a very young age.

“I never imagined myself in any other ideological field,” he said.

I had no idea of ​​myself in any other ideological field.

In September 2019, V.Čmilytė-Nielsen was elected party president.

She took the helm of the party from Eugene Gentville at a difficult time for the Liberals.

The Liberal Movement is on trial for a case of political corruption.

In May 2016, party leader Eligijus Masiulis was arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe of 106,000 euros in a box of alcohol.

This story also cost the liberal movement the loss of some prominent party members: Remigijus Šimašius, Aušrinė Armonaitė, who later founded the “competitive” Freedom Party, the mayor of the city of Klaipėda, Vytautas Grubliauskas, and the like.

During the spring session of parliament in 2019, V. Čmilytė-Nielsen was the opposition leader of the Seimas.

Politicians often have to work for years for higher positions or positions.

At that time, V.Čmilyte-Nielsen lost the “spare bench rubbing” for a long time.

The president of the Liberal Movement explained that this could have happened because she accepted all the challenges along the way, without shirking responsibility when it was possible to assume it.

Chess grandmaster

Before turning to politics, V.Čmilytė-Nielsen shone with sporting achievements.

She was a professional chess player, a longtime member of the Lithuanian national team, and a winner of the World Chess Olympics.

In 2011, V.Čmilytė-Nielsen became the European Chess Champion.

She is a great chess teacher.

V.Čmilytė-Nielsen, who turned to politics, does not hide to prolong chess a little.

“I just consider myself a very happy person because I had to do a job like this and have a career at a very young age that I had always dreamed of,” he said.

Chess continues to be a part of V.Čmilytė-Nielsen’s life.

The politician likes to hold meetings in the Vilnius Bernardine Garden square, where there is a large chess board.

There is also a chess board on his desk in Seimas’s cabinet.

Some photos with moments of tournaments and awards ceremonies recall the athlete’s career there.

Raises four children

V.Čmilytė-Nielsen is from Šiauliai.

There she resides with her second husband, the great Danish teacher Peter Heine Nielsen and their children.

She has two sons, Dmitry and Alexander, with her first husband, the Latvian chess grandmaster Alexei Shirov.

V.Čmilytė-Nielsen raises Marius and Kristijonas with PHNielsen.

“I have four children, of very different ages: from two to eighteen years old. You really want and need a lot of attention from each of them. I am very fortunate in the sense that my loved ones, my family, really support, help and I am very aware that any woman seeking a career, a woman who has many responsibilities at work, usually has that invisible support front that help. to deal with everything. That’s me, I have those people by my side, “said V. Čmilytė-Nielsen.

I am very lucky in the sense that my close people, my family, really support, help.

Biography of V.Čmilytė-Nielsen

Birthdate: 1983 August 6
Place of birth: Šiauliai, Lithuania

Education:
2007 University of Latvia, Faculty of Philology, BA in English Philology
2001 Šiauliai Didždvaris Gym

Work experience:
2001-2014 Professional athlete-chess player, long-time member of the Lithuanian national team, winner of the World Chess Olympics
2011 European Chess Champion

Political career:
Since 2015 Member of the Liberal Movement
Since 2015 Member of the Seimas

We:
State Awards: Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas 5th degree (1996); Lithuanian Order of Merit Officers Cross (2011); Name of honorary citizen of the city of Šiauliai (2011)

Languages:

Lithuanian (native), English, Russian, Spanish

Hobbies:

books, travel, sports

Family:

Married, the second man is Danish chess grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen. Sons: Dmitrijus, Aleksandras, Marius, Kristijonas.