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The priest Algirdas Toliatas caused controversy when he called on social networks to sign a petition against the Istanbul Convention. The cleric has been criticized, the call to sign the petition has been deleted and part of the public has sided with him, claiming that this restricts freedom of expression. The president also joined Toliatas this week.
“The attack of the priest Toliat only because he has manifested the official position of the Church, he has not presented his position of any kind, and the attack by such methods and in this way is completely unacceptable and shows that something has happened in our public space during the last ten or fifteen years.
And very simple things happened. Today a public inquisition has been formed in Lithuania, that is, people who imagine that they can mix dissidents with dirt, do it sometimes in a disgusting way, and consider themselves unpunished. I think we don’t have to put up with this.
Today, I am on the side of the esteemed Tolyat priest, mainly because I am on his side as a human side. “Which position you represent is a derivative question, we can discuss the positions, but let us respectfully do it among ourselves and the culture of bullying in Lithuania should be eradicated one by one,” G. Nausėda said in Kaunas on Monday.
This was the president’s first public statement on the divisive debate over the Istanbul Convention. However, although he did mention the “public inquisition” against A. Toliatas, the president did not mention another figure often discussed in headlines and discussions: Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius. Public figures say they have raised more than 300,000. Petras Gražulis wrote a resolution on this issue in the Seimas, and TV Raskevičius itself received a series of threatening messages on social media.
Aušrinė Armonaitė, president of the Freedom Party, said that the president’s words about the attack on A. Toliatas were perfect to describe the actions against TV Raskevičius.
“I listen to these words and I see the messages that my member receives from the colleague of the Seimas, Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, the messages of open violence and threats. Share some of them on social media, not some. That is, if we talk about Tom’s situation today, I agree that these words could be applied, although these words are probably intended for another situation, ”A. Armonaitė said on the air of LRT Radio.
Put an even bigger gap in society
Aovaus Katauskas, Nova Media senior partner and communication specialist, told the tv3.lt news portal that although the themes of the Istanbul Convention and TV Raskevičius are different, the public identifies them.
“The subject of Mr. Raskevičius came up very constantly. <...> However, when the theme of the Istanbul Convention came up alongside this theme, they automatically became intertwined. It is not the same, but it is a matter of being next to each other ”, said the interlocutor.
Therefore, although the president spoke only on the topic of the Istanbul Convention, according to A. Katauskas, people associated his response with discussions about TV Raskevičius, the legalization of the association and the LGBT + community.
“It doesn’t matter if I wanted to answer just one question. He answered all the questions of public interest ”, assured the communication expert.
According to A. Katauskas, a part of society expects a reassuring opinion from the president, or at least one that shows that G. Nausėda sees different sides of the conflict. According to the interlocutor, speaking of A. Toliatas, G. Nausėda, perhaps reluctantly, joined one of the sides of the conflict.
According to A. Katauskas, those who oppose the Istanbul Convention and defend A. Toliatas will use this statement from the head of the country and claim that the president is behind them.
“At the same time, the group of people who were offended by the words of the priest Tolyat himself was very active. They saw that another man, who should be the balance sheet, the head of state, took a position that is contrary to their opinion. <...> This statement from the President, no matter what the goal is, no matter what question is answered, forged an even bigger gap, ”said A. Katauskas.
Is the president a cautious referee over political sham?
However, Matas Baltrukevičius, associate analyst at the Vilnius Institute of Political Analysis (VPAI), says that the president has just softly expressed his position and it is not the first time that G. Nausėda has avoided being associated with issues that polarize society. .
“It just came to our notice then. Now, I won’t say exactly how the discussion went when Dalia Grybauskaitė said it would be wrong for her to have a position on the issue. We often imagine the president as an arbiter among all the political riots, the filth which in the end makes some kind of a cautious decision. Nausėda has made it clear during the election campaign that it would be prudent to hold referendums on issues of value. I fully understand her caution, “commented M. Baltrukevičius on the news portal tv3.lt.
The interlocutor agreed with the idea of A. Katauskas that although the themes of the Istanbul Convention and, for example, the legalization of the partnership are not identical, society connects them.
“The president, feeling that pulse, avoids very much getting involved in any particular side. On the other hand, it is important that the president pay attention to that culture of debate. We will all agree that the culture of debate on this issue is terrible and there is a great lack of respectful dialogue everywhere. The president is quite right to point this out, of course, it would have been very likely to mention the threatening messages that Tomas Raskevičius receives, “said the VPAI analyst.
According to M. Baltrukevičius, “we will not get into the head of the president”, so his speech can be evaluated in two ways. According to the interlocutor, most of the news portals headline G. Nausėda’s idea to join A. Toliatas, so a part of society automatically got the impression that the head of state also supports the ideas expressed in the priest’s social networks.
“I don’t think it was that unequivocal here. I think the president has said many things to maintain the impression of neutrality that he seeks, ”said M. Baltrukevičius.
It’s not the first time you’ve avoided sharp vocabulary
The term “public inquisition” chosen by the president also sparked debate in the public sphere.
“This is not the first time our president has used strong enough words. <...> The forms of language he uses are about himself, ”said A. Katauskas.
The communication expert also recalled the case of September last year, when criticism was poured out in the public sphere of First Lady Diana Nausėdienė, and the country’s chief stood up to defend the wives.
“Day and night, those who do not sleep for human rights organized a public execution for their mother and his wife, for whom they allegedly fight for equal opportunities and self-expression,” G. Nausėda said at the time.
According to A. Katauskas, G. Nausėda did not avoid the phrases aloud before entering the palace in Daukantas Square, but a reaction from the public, when only a famous person said it, and another, when that rhetoric is used by the President of the country.
“A certain part of society reacted very sensitively to his words. By using certain symbols in speech all the time, it is necessary to anticipate that they may be accepted in different situations in a completely different way than in a simple situation. <...> It is difficult to judge whether it is good or bad. It is about himself, it is the way he speaks, but at the same time it might be time to understand how the public will react to such things, especially those who do not agree with the opinion of the President, ”said A. Katauskas. .
Sediment reacts late
The president became involved in the heated discussions about the Istanbul Convention only this week and, according to M. Baltrukevičius, this is not the first time that G. Nausėda has reacted late to issues relevant to society.
“During the pandemic, especially during its first wave, we continued to lose the role of that moral leader. He could have reached out to people earlier and with a little more sincerity,” said the VPAI analyst.
However, according to the interlocutor, G. Nausėda’s message about the low level of discussion culture in Lithuania is necessary, although it could also have been said earlier.
“I understand his desire to get involved, but also his political caution. At the end of the day, the president, like his predecessors, is impartial, it is very important for him to create the image that he does not get caught in all kinds of pieces, a little more. [to].
I think it is a conscious construction of an image and then it is considered on a case-by-case basis whether speaking out would bring some political benefits or maybe a bolder position would have a detrimental effect on what society thinks, ”said M. Baltrukevičius.
For this reason, according to him, G. Nausėda is constantly trying to maneuver carefully and as a result sometimes suffers because he fails to react quickly and take a clearer position. However, sometimes, in the opinion of M. Baltrukevičius, such caution by G. Nausėda also pays him dividends.
However, A. Katauskas believes that G. Nausėda avoids the issue of TV Raskevičius, but the president does not avoid it, because the public has “connected the question of the chairman of the Human Rights Committee and the discussions of the Istanbul Convention.
The communications expert agrees that the president may have chosen a strategy to first see the action in the public space and only then react. However, according to A. Katauskas, G. Nausėda will have to speak again publicly on issues that divide society. First of all, because the president’s message about Mr. Toliat was received in two ways.
“Perhaps at this point, if it was a communication error, not so many words, the president, in my opinion, will have to join this debate sooner or later. If that was really his position, I hope the consequences of this for society itself have been assessed. The distance between the groups discussing the Istanbul Convention only increased after this speech, “stated A. Katauskas.
The news portal tv3.lt wrote a little earlier about the conflict between the rulers and the president. Without silent discussions about who should represent Lithuania in the European Council (EVS), the prime minister or the president, the experts assessed this as a natural change from politicians in the sandbox. However, tensions between the ruler and the president may rise. The media lips speak of a possible parliamentary investigation into the activities of the president, and the word “indictment” has already sounded on the lips of some politicians.
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