Dust reaction expert after sediment criticism: that’s not the answer

Girnius: The criticism is not surprising, but it is only partially justified.

Like Kęstutis Girnius, a political scientist at the Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences (VU TSPMI), President G. Nausėda has had a negative attitude towards A. Dulkis since the formation of this Government.

As a result, the country’s chief criticism of the minister, according to the political scientist, is not surprising.

“It should be remembered that Nausėda was negative about Dustis from the beginning, trying to make sure that he did not become a miner. The strong intervention of Šimonytė convinced Nausėda to name him, such indifference exists all the time,” noted K. Girnius.

According to him, there are reasons for discontent, but not all solutions to problems, noted K. Girnius, are in the hands of the Minister.

“I think there are reasons to be dissatisfied with the timing of vaccination: the government really started advertising and encouraging people to get vaccinated too slowly and too late. On the other hand, remember that there are those antivirals, people who have decided not to get vaccinated. and you will not be able to convince them in any way. This is regardless of what Dulkys does, there are limits to what can be done with irrational people, “said the political scientist.

Speaking about the slow pace of vaccination, President Nausėda emphasized on Wednesday that if the pace did not accelerate, the question would arise: “What is the need for such a health ministry if we do not get close to that goal of 70 percent? hundred?”. .

“SAM is not a special unit that was specifically designed to combat COVID-19. It performs many broad and diverse functions, so that speech is an empty threat, ”noted K. Girnius.

When asked whether Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė should not raise the issue of A. Dulkis’ liability due to the slowdown in vaccination rates, K. Girnius answered without hesitation that the Head of Government would make comments to the Minister himself.

“Dust is the prime minister’s favorite. Thanks to her, he entered the ministry. The fact that she supports him is completely understandable. I think that if she feels any deficiencies in her work, she has certainly said so privately or in a government meeting.

Re-engage in public discussions or disputes: Nausėda said that, Šimonytė replied that, I think it would be completely useless. Their support is known and it would be useless and unwise to escalate disagreements with Nausėda, ”said a VMU political scientist.

Jurkynas: Dust’s excuse that his fate is in the hands of the prime minister is not the answer

Mindaugas Jurkynas, Jean Monnet professor at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), spoke similarly.

“When she appointed Dulkis as Minister of Health, when the Government was formed, Prime Minister I. Šimonytė said that she took responsibility herself, I think everyone remembers that. Naturally, the ministers are the primary competence and responsibility of the Prime Minister ”, commented the political scientist.

However, he considered the criticisms made by President Naus Ministerda of the minister of less importance.

“The criticism, I would say, was quite small. In addition, the summer is not over yet, the vaccination of people depends on several factors: one of them is the plans, the measures carried out by SAM, its adequacy according to the vaccination rates of the people, the wishes, and on the other hand there is the very attitude of the people, that if the people are negative, it will not change any measure of the government or other authority.

If a person does not want to be vaccinated and there are no penalties or some incentive to do so, it may not affect them, ”said M. Jurkynas.

However, the professors stressed, it is the responsibility of the executive and the SAM to encourage people to get vaccinated and how to do it.

“If there are no new measures that, in response to the slowdown in the number of vaccinations and possibly an increase in the number of unvaccinated patients, may raise questions as to why SAM is not proposing new or different measures to try to address the situation. .

“Nobody expects everyone to be miraculously vaccinated, like a magic wand, but no new tools or ways have been seen yet,” the expert noted.

Furthermore, as Mr. Jurkynas pointed out, the president oversees political life in addition to all his other functions.

“Clearly now, two years into his presidency, he held that press conference during a press conference to identify certain areas where he, as president, believes there should be a bigger breakthrough, new tools,” said the professor.

Prime Minister I. Šimonytė herself has repeatedly acknowledged that the vaccination rate is unsatisfactory, therefore, according to M. Jurkynas, the Government must propose measures to improve the situation and see if other measures change the situation or not.

For his part, after criticizing the president, A. Dulkys told reporters that the fate of his later work in the minister’s chair was in the prime minister’s hands. Read about it here.

However, in the opinion of M. Jurkynas, in this situation the Minister should at least explain the efforts made by SAM to handle the situation.

“It just came to our attention then. The answer should be that our measurements were like this: when he went to the Presidency, he had a 130-point plan that nobody saw, as I understood it. He could say with humor that we made the first fifty points. Then others were planned and so on, to say what measures were taken, which did not work, which are the following: let’s try these, let’s encourage, there will be sanctions, mobile points, education, something else.

However, if he does not say that, then we can ask: does the minister have nothing to say?

Nausėda criticized SAM for both the plans and the refrigerated vaccines

In his speech on Wednesday, G. Nausėda noted that about 800 thousand. vaccines are also not used in “refrigerator fumes.” You can read more about the full speech of the head of country here.

The head of state also said that the council of health experts he had convened was aimed at providing science-based knowledge to politicians during the transition to power.

“Unfortunately, I miss SAM’s more active efforts and actions to promote vaccination. There is the impression that there is simply no action plan, be it a 130-point plan in December or at least a 5-step plan to promote vaccination now, “criticized G. Nausėda to SAM.

He said that all responsibility is now in the hands of SAM.

Lack of vaccination results: what is Lithuania getting worse?

The head of state said the goal of vaccinating 70 percent. the adult population of the country has reached 8 EU countries.

“In the coming weeks, the number of those states will double. In the coming weeks, the EU as a whole will reach and exceed 70%. The number of vaccinated populations. The question arises as to how worse is Lithuania or what are the worst conditions? I had to start from not being able to achieve this goal today. The question remains open, “said G. Nausėda.

The president said the pressure on SAM was only increasing. “Now we clearly see a causal link between vaccination and disease. And above all, in serious cases. If we do not want to close again in autumn, we must take advantage of the remaining summer months and do what other countries have done ”, urged G. Nausėda.

Therefore, he promised to ask the question: what plan does SAM have for the remaining months of summer? “Recognizing that what was promised was not done,” he said.

“I remember very well how people told me 3 months ago: fix the supply, we will vaccinate. The supply has recovered (…), but currently we have 55 percent.

I think that today there is no clear action plan, the tools used are loose, the same commercials are rotated that nobody sees anymore. Now it is necessary to identify which groups are problematic, ”explained G. Nausėda.

He said that if the pace does not accelerate, the question should be asked: “And who needs such a health ministry if we do not get close to that goal of 70 percent.”

Express support for Dustis: critics need authority

In response to the president’s criticism, Andrius Kubilius, a former prime minister and member of the European Parliament, thanked the minister on Facebook on Thursday.

“And I want to thank Minister Arūnas Dulkis and his entire team: for controlling the pandemic wave. And for the rational implementation of the vaccination plan.

We know what the Government is doing in this difficult double pandemic and refugee crisis, and what it is achieving. We know what the majority of the Seimas cares about and why they are arguing with the opposition, “the politician wrote on Facebook.

The MEP A. Kubilius did not spare the criticism for the head of the country.

“We know so much about the president that he is and that he likes to be him. It would be naive to expect the president not to criticize Minister Dulkis. Expecting a decent Thanksgiving would also be naive. In fact, he no longer cares. Because critics also need authority, not just leadership, ”A. Kubilius wrote on Facebook on Thursday.