S. Skvernelis: the rulers and the Government were not prepared for the session, the opposition is the only one

At the beginning of the spring session of the Seimas on Wednesday, former Prime Minister S. Skvernelis pointed out that there are many unfinished and unregistered projects on the parliament’s agenda.

“The Seimas session is basically not ready. If ever we were criticized for being 20 or 15 percent. Bills that are not registered, now the absolute majority are not registered.

Regarding the Government, of the 110 laws enacted, only 50 are registered, of which, apparently, only 42 or more are previous governments.

Basically, in three months, the government has not been able to develop any major projects and we know where we are: there is a pandemic and a post-pandemic situation. It’s really sad, “politicians told reporters.

Unique situation

He also noted the increase in activity by opposition factions.

“Probably a unique case in the history of our parliament is that the opposition bills, registered and already drafted from the opposition factions, were presented by more than the ruling coalition and the government together,” Skvernelis said.

When asked to name the priorities of the largest opposition faction in the Seimas, the “peasants,” in this session, the politician said that these were social and economic issues and the solutions that would help emerge from the pandemic.

Seimas President V.Čmilytė-Nielsen also declared that Lithuania must first cope with the pandemic and only then undertake the reforms promised during the elections.

He said repeatedly before the start of the session that this government was not concerned with the quantity of legislation, but with its quality.

“In the coalition agreement and when negotiating the coalition, we decided to have high-quality legislation and reduce the number of legal acts adopted by the Seimas. We live up to this commitment. In the spring session, such a deliberate decision by the factions of the ruling coalition to limit the proposals ”, the president of Seimas previously commented on the LRT program“ Topic of the day ”.

Government priorities

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė also highlighted the importance of solving the consequences of the pandemic in the Seimas.

“Of the projects presented by the Government, several essential elements can be distinguished. First, those projects that are related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its management. It would probably include here the budgetary adjustment that will be necessary to assess the impact on the economy. and in other places, and that will probably be presented in the middle of spring.

In addition, some changes in the legislation of the health system, a bill that we will present next week on mandatory tests for employees, which would allow a more courageous release from quarantine requirements and initiate various contact activities, “he commented. .

Furthermore, according to the Prime Minister, it will be important in this session to adopt an innovation reform to develop research in higher education and make it more business-friendly.

According to her, it is also important to reform the Domestic Violence Law to address climate change, to approve the project for electric energy storage batteries.

The “peasants” hope to reach an agreement with at least one faction

The Seimas starts the spring session without an opposition leader, and the opposition faction or party, the Lithuanian Green and Peasant Union, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party and the Labor Party, have no agreement on joint work .

S. Skvernelis said this could change.

United opposition.

“The opposition will join. We work informally during the intersessional and we have an agreement with the Socdems. Certainly they will not sign any formal agreement until there is a president, but once the president is elected, I hope we will return to that,” he hoped .

The “peasants”, according to the politician, formally hope to reach an agreement with at least one faction.

“We will surely have a formal agreement with at least one faction. But it is informal. [bendravimas]There will definitely be a permanent opposition council, it already is, we coordinate our issues where issues overlap. Where positions stand out, we will not seek a common position ”, assured a member of Seimas.