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After a heated discussion about the procedure, what issues the CEC should evaluate and whether it is possible to present a professor even without working for him, 7 commission members voted in favor of ending the investigation at Friday’s meeting, 3 were against “, 1 abstained.
There was no doubt that it could be presented by a teacher
The issue of using the word “professor” in conjunction with V. Pranckietis’ surname in publicity for the Seimas elections has already been discussed by the CEC. at last week’s meeting. In the absence of a radical divergence of views, the absence of all members of the commission and the fact that, after the vote, there were doubts as to whether some of them should withdraw, no final decision was made.
Returning to this issue in a meeting on Friday, CEC members re-entered the discussion about how much they might consider if someone is allowed to call themselves a professor. He even volunteered at Vytautas Magnus University itself, which had hired V. Pranckietis to work, to find out if he could apply as a professor even after the termination of his employment contract.
Photo by G. Dagis / Vytautas Magnus University
But first, President Laura Matjošaitytė criticized her colleagues for not being able to make a decision a week ago. Two alternative solutions were then voted on: end the investigation or acknowledge that the politics misleads voters. 5 members voted for them.
The president of the CEC did not participate in the deliberation or in the vote because, when delegated by the Speaker of the Seimas, only V. Pranckietis, left. Instead, Vice President Andrius Puks voted in favor of deciding that voters were misled. The commission members immediately debated whether, during the temporary chairmanship of the meeting, he completely changed the head of the CEC and his vote could be decisive.
There were also doubts about whether Maxim Reznikov, a delegate from the Liberal Movement, did not have to resign. Immediately after the disagreement over everything, it was decided to postpone the final decision until the next meeting.
“It just came to our notice then. You can’t vote as many times as you want until the bill is approved,” L. Matjošaitytė taught his colleagues on Friday. He criticized the “easy chaos” of voting and then getting back on topic.
Already after the session, the Liberal Movement, on whose list V. Pranckietis was a candidate for the Seimas, provided an additional explanation. Therefore, some members of the CEC suggested reconsidering the issue. L. Matjošaitytė recalled that the circumstances were known before the first vote, a certificate was prepared with a proposal to terminate the investigation without any reason to continue it. The next way, he said, is to form a working group and continue the investigation.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15-minute photo / Andrius Puksas, Laura Matjošaitytė
Reznikov questioned on Friday whether an anonymous complaint filed after the elections should have been investigated. His colleague Tauras Rutkūnas recalled that the entire commission had accepted the complaint. “If there is a complaint, it does not matter who wrote it: Marytė, candidate or anonymous,” explained the head of the CCA.
When it was decided to accept a verdict on Friday, L. Matjošaitytė again expressed his desire to resign, but his colleagues voted that it was not necessary. By the way, the situation of the president of the CEC was ambiguous not only because of the links with the former V. Pranckietis, as former president of the Seimas. Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the leader of the Liberals with whom he ran, now holds this position.
According to Dainius Petravičius, executive secretary of the Liberal Movement, who participated in the meeting, it was not the candidate himself who decided to use the name of a professor before the elections. This party had more candidates for teachers: Raimundas Lopas, Kęstutis Glaveckas. “It just came to our attention then. It is well known that they are professors,” explained the liberal spokesman.
Elected for 5 years, fired after a month and a half
The CEC addressed this issue when it received an anonymous tip about V. Pranckietis’s publicity before last year’s Seimas election.
“For a Lithuania of opportunities! Teacher. Victor Francis “, – aware one of the campaign ads.
Photo from Facebook ad / Viktoras Pranckietis on Facebook page
The then head of parliament, who had been listed by the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union in previous elections, tried his luck with the Liberal Movement for the second time. On the website of this party the candidate was also introduced as a teacher. The election was a success for him: he was elected in the single-member constituency of Raudondvaris.
The candidate’s biography states that he has worked at the Lithuanian Academy of Agriculture (later renamed Aleksandras Stulginskis University and finally Vytautas Magnus University Academy of Agriculture) since 1982, and has held various positions.
„2016 m. May 19 The Aleksandras Stulginskis University certification commission evaluated the scientific, pedagogical and other activities of my 29 years of work at the university and witnessed it as a professor. 15 minutes the politician explained. “On the basis of the certification, the university has concluded an employment contract for the teaching position.”
The future politician became a professor at the Institute of Agricultural and Food Sciences for the period of 2016. September 1 to 2021 August 31 But already on November 13, V. Pranckietis was removed from the post of professor. “Viktoras Pranckietis does not have the pedagogical title of professor,” said the academy’s response to election organizers.
There is a chair and a pedagogical title.
As soon as he began to profess, V. Pranckietis, Doctor of Biomedical Sciences, was elected Member of Parliament. The future director of Seimas had to resign from the university because The Constitution prohibits parliamentarians to have other jobs.
The Academy confirmed that his employment contract was later terminated. “V. Pranckietis was elected professor by competition and worked with him until the end of his employment contract, that is, when he was elected a member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.” 15 minutes declared the representative of the Živilė Mediekšienė academy.
Erik Ovcharenko / 15min photo / Viktor Pranckietis cast his vote in the second round of the elections
The parliamentarian’s doubts about whether he could appear as a teacher during the electoral campaign are incomprehensible. Portal 15 minutes he recalled being certified for 2021. “The teacher’s certification has never been revoked for me, and the use of the state is not restricted in any way by law. If I was not chosen for the Seimas in 2020, a valid teacher certification would entitle me to continue my teaching career.
Therefore, there were no errors or misrepresentations in political advertising, ”said V. Franckietis.
Both In the Law of Sciences and Studies, both university statute only the positions of lecturers are indicated (professor, associate professor, lecturer, assistant). And in the Senate approved in the description of the procedure for granting pedagogical degrees It is written that the pedagogical title of teacher may be awarded to teachers, among others, „for those who have held the position of professor by competition for at least 0.5 full-time positions and have obtained the position of professor for the second term ”.
Should I check if the candidate lives with his wife?
Dainius Petravičius, the executive secretary of the Liberal Movement, who participated in the meeting, was surprised that for four years no one cared about this “prof”.
He explained that such an investigation can lead to absurdity. According to the CEC, it may be necessary to explain “if the candidate continues to live with the wife indicated there, if his five children are really his children, or if he is really running in the open air if he wrote that he is an athlete.”
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15 minutes / 12 candidates of the Lithuanian Christian National Democratic Union voted in advance in Lukiškės square
Therefore, the commission’s secretariat staff proposed to terminate the investigation. After all, the information contained in the candidate biographies is not subject to verification by the Justice Commission. Furthermore, the provisions of the law on deceptive or comparative advertising do not apply to electoral campaigns.
The Seimas Elections Law establishes that “the electoral campaign can adopt various forms and methods, except those that violate the Constitution and the laws, are contrary to morality, justice or the harmony of society and do not correspond to fair elections and honorable. “So it is doubtful that V. Pranckietis did not mislead the voters by presenting himself as a professor.
However, CEC member Aistė Žilinskienė, based on the court decision on the “Women’s Summer” series, argued that the principles and concept of ordinary advertising can be applied to political advertising. According to him, advertising should not mislead the people it is targeting, whose behavior may affect, or prevent another person from competing.
The member of the CEC recalled the response of the higher school, which clearly states that V. Pranckietis no longer has the pedagogical title of teacher.
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