Experts valued the start of the Government: unenviable

Decisions announced since the first meetings to tighten quarantine conditions were adjusted at Monday’s meeting.

Delphi The political and communication specialists interviewed emphasized that the start of the new government was determined by the circumstances, more precisely, the coronavirus pandemic that covered Lithuania and the entire world. And that start-up period is not favorable for the new government, so some problems have not been avoided.

Start of work not viable

“The government really cannot be jealous of the beginning: it is a global pandemic and requires quick and unpopular decisions. This is not a thankful situation, so it is natural that in such conditions it is difficult to start with popular things, popular decisions with which any new government wants to start.

We saw that, due to restrictions, a piece of information came out on Sunday, it was changed overnight and slightly different information came out on Monday. Such things do not add confidence to the Government and its decisions. People are upset, tired, the holidays are approaching, it is necessary to communicate very clearly what will be done, when it will be done and why it will be done. At this point, there may be some reproach to the communication of the new Government. Of course, the conditions are also extraordinary, which requires unusual and complicated solutions ”, commented the director of the Media Research Laboratory of the Faculty of Communication of Vilnius University (VU), dr. Andrius Šuminas.

According to him, in a crisis, solutions must be communicated very clearly. It is very important that those decisions are not reversed or reversed. Otherwise, as Schumin pointed out, people are starting to think that the government doesn’t know what it is doing.

“The new government has been very critical of the previous one, but when they find themselves in their position, they see that not everything is as simple as criticizing from the side,” said a specialist in political communication.

The beginning is determined by the circumstances

Both of them Delphi Mindaugas Jurkynas, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences and Diplomacy of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), and Vytautas Isoda, associate professor and political scientist at the Lithuanian Military Academy (LKA), agreed that Lithuania and the world face a problem of health related to the pandemic. Therefore, both the outgoing and new governments must address the issues of managing the pandemic.

“All governments want to start and end their terms in a memorable way. The government of I. Šimonyttó tried to really start actively, we saw the weekend’s work, intensive meetings with experts and the decisions taken immediately afterwards. Or is it trying to give the impression of a very active government, or is doing so. In any case, there is a real attempt to control the pandemic situation. It is possible that other solutions have not had time until now, “said V. Isoda.

Another priority, as the political scientist pointed out, is the draft budget and its adjustment. But this work is also largely determined by circumstances.

“It is already the case in Lithuania that the budget bill is presented by the outgoing government, and the new government can change this bill relatively little. The current rulers have learned from past experiences when the tax reform was carried out overnight. the morning under Andrius Kubilius. Now we see that they still do not plan to introduce new taxes, “said the associate professor of LCA.

According to him, so far we can positively assess the unity demonstrated by the ruling coalition, because during the formation of the Government and the adoption of the first decisions, no disagreements have arisen between the partners of the ruling coalition.

“We see that the law to decriminalize soft drugs, which is a priority of the Freedom Party, has started to gain ground in the Seimas, and we know that part of the conservative faction does not strongly support this law. In any case, we have not really seen the anger in public among the coalition partners, they are trying to demonstrate unity, although we know that the ruling majority is fragile in its numerical expression ”, assured V. Isoda.

Mr. Jurkynas emphasized that the first 100 days would be wrong to strongly evaluate and especially criticize the Government, as it would take time to take over the work and become familiar with the supervised areas. But even during this period, one should not forget to see if what the members of the current coalition have said in the past is continued, what principles they have declared.

“Liberals have always been in favor of greater freedoms and fewer restrictions. In October, we heard speeches from both the mayor of Vilnius and the president of the Freedom Party that it is not necessary to close everything. But the situation forces to adjust those of its principles The question arises as to whether this was a critique of the critique of the outgoing government in the past, or whether the situation has changed so much that the principles are also changing.

In the spring, the Liberal Movement said it wanted to know the conditions under which the quarantine situation would end. This issue is equally relevant today, it should also be raised today ”, said the VMU professor.

The weaknesses will be revealed by the lack of funding.

“It simply came to our knowledge then. The suspensions of economic activity make it difficult for funds to enter the budget, from which the funds are distributed to various sectors. The indebtedness will increase the government’s indebtedness. And compensation mechanisms must be put in place. : If businesses are forced to close, people wonder how to survive, how to pay off their loans, how to raise their children, it will take money and it won’t be as much as you want it to be.

The ruling parties have criticized the outgoing government for indebtedness. They are the ones who are now in the same situation. This may raise the question why the rulers have criticized the previous government for borrowing, handling the crisis caused by the pandemic, if they are doing it themselves now, “said M. Jurkynas.

It is the lack of financing, according to V. Isoda, which can expose the weaknesses of the areas supervised by some ministries.

“The Finance Minister is trying to assure us that the economic recovery will be quite fast and that there will be some of that growth. But no one knows what it will really be like. It may be that in the second half of the quarter you have to see something like tightening your belt. Then Of course, the popularity of the Government and the personal popularity of the Prime Minister can significantly decrease, “noted V. Isoda.

Thinking of limited financial resources, it is also possible to predict weak areas under the supervision of the Cabinet of Ministers. As the LKA political scientist pointed out, given that the budget will be tight in the coming years and the spending line will not be able to increase significantly, it is likely that a series of critical arrows will fly to the Ministry of Social Security and Labor.

“It cannot be ruled out that the head of this ministry has to be sacrificed in the long run by replacing him with another person. And the point here is not the question of staffing, but the fact that under current conditions this area is not favorable.

The cultural sector always lacks sufficient funds in times of difficulty. This is difficult, unless Minister Simonas Kairys can use those funds, even small ones, in such a way that all cultural figures, from librarians to artists, are satisfied. But the chances here are slim.
The position of Minister of Education is one of the ministerial positions that is rotated most frequently. All three parties have emphasized and are now emphasizing the field of education as a priority, so the expectations for Minister Jurgita Šiugždinienė are very high and this can make work difficult, ”said V. Isoda shared the forecasts.

The most difficult, according to M. Jurkynas, will be the Ministry of Health in any case due to the challenges of the pandemic that we all understand. There are still sectors that should be quite stable in the near future.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense are ministries that are a bit easier to operate politically.” The constitutional powers of the president are related to these areas, in addition, the issues of security, defense, NATO and foreign policy are they resolve at a strategic level based on consensus between political parties ”, he said.