A year-long decision by the Seimas has been postponed again: Žemaitaitis raises the question why the rulers need Žalimas

You want to end the live sessions

According to ELTA, the candidacies of Giedrė Lastauskienė, Andrius Kabišaitis and Algis Norkūnas were scheduled to be submitted to the Seimas on Tuesday to serve as judges of the Constitutional Court.

However, the Conference of Elders was informed that the presentation of the CC judges had been removed from the agenda of the plenary session of the Seimas and possibly postponed until the spring session.

The president of the Seimas, Viktorija Čmilytė – Nielsen, said that next week the Seimas plans to sit remotely and, according to the Statute of the Seimas, a secret vote for the appointment of the judges of the CC must be carried out, which can only be done live . Therefore, according to her, the appointments of the CC judges are not postponed to the spring session.

“Our goal is for the Thursday morning session to be the last live session, to end the live session on Thursday until noon (…) If we want to finish the whole process against the CC judges, we should have a Live election not only on Thursday afternoon but also next Tuesday. ” The president of the Seimas said at the Conference of Elders, remembering the parliamentarians with coronavirus.

Throwing accusations

In the Seimas room, accusations and visual comparisons were made about this decision.

During the plenary session of the Seimas, Agnė Širinskienė drew the attention of parliamentarians to the fact that the autumn session was extended precisely due to the procedure for appointing the CC judges, and has now been removed from the agenda.

“The government has changed since November, but there is no effort to approve the judges. I think all the issues that are now on the agenda are certainly not important and meaningful for the Seimas to choose. Today, the Seimas chose to approve the CC judges (…) I think it is really necessary to put these issues on the agenda and make a presentation “, – A. Širinskienė addressed the ruling authorities.

The conservative Andrius Vyšniauskas stated that problems with the unassigned judges of the CC arose when the “peasants” formed the majority of the Seimas.

“I agree with A. Širinskienė that the CC judges have not been appointed for a year. This Seimas has been running for a month and a half. Before that, everything was made up of the old Seimas. This could A. Širinskienė respond to this question, why the old ruling majority did not make this decision and did not accept new judges in time. (…) The CC is working and functioning as it should. “Two months before the spring session, nothing will happen, especially because the subject is sensitive and important enough, “he said.

At that time, A. Širinskienė raised the question during the plenary session of the Seimas whether in this way the governors want to change the nominations of the CC judges.

“If you plan to change your candidacy, and I would not really be surprised if it were done, then in that case you say it very openly, because really someone’s illness is not a reason not to run and not make decisions. Especially when the rulers of the rostrum Seimas lied that this session was extended due to the CC judges, ”he said.

Remigijus Žemaitaitis, president of the Freedom and Justice Party, also supported him. According to him, the Seimas does not respect the Constitution through such decisions.

“Who can guarantee that these three appointed judges will survive? Won’t other people be selected? And who can guarantee that the president of the CC D. Žalimas is not obliged to the Conservative Party to change a certain resolution of the CC on the change of status of the president of Seimas at that time ”, said R. Žemaitaitis.

Žemaitaitis explains that rulers need Žalimas

Mixed groups of members of the Seimas R. Žemaitaitis Delfi was surprised by such a decision of the rulers.

Recalling what the current rulers said last year, after the Lithuanian Union of Peasants and Greens (LVŽS), which now works in the opposition, made such a decision, the MP also saw a clear goal.

“Both in April, Gabriel Landsbergis had clearly accused the members of the Seimas and the ruling authorities that this is being done intentionally, it is a humiliation. Statys Šedbaras, the current chairman of the Public Order Committee, said that the situation is not at all normal, because once the mandate of the judges is over, they must be appointed, ”R. Žemaitaitis told the accusations mentioned last year.

According to him, the current president of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilyė-Nielsen later threatened to appeal to the European Commission (EC) for such provocative decisions.

“It just came to our attention then. This issue should have been on the agenda, judges had to be appointed, because soon a year will come when judges are in office without rights, if I say so financially. There is no argument as to why specifically removed the issue from the agenda, “said the MP.

R. Žemaitaitis recalled that the desire to appoint CC judges was one of the arguments to extend the Seimas session.

A representative of the mixed group of Seimas members discussed what could be the reason for this decision.

“I think other judges are expected to be appointed. And it is expected that in commemoration of January and the thirtieth anniversary of the independence of the state, an attempt will be made to equate Vytautas Landsbergis with that of president, not only with that of head of state. And that requires Dainius Žalimas “, – considered the politician.

According to the interlocutor, it seems that this issue will no longer be raised in this extended session of the Seimas, since the Seimas will try to hold sessions remotely as of Thursday, and it is not possible to vote for personnel because it is done by secret ballot.

“It means that the members of the Seimas have to choose the workplace and vote for it. If there had been a presentation today, there would have been a hearing on Thursday. And next Tuesday, according to the meeting agenda, there would be a reception.” said R. Žemaitaitis.

Politicians described the behavior of the current rulers as “more terrible than that of the peasants.”

Čmilytė-Nielsen rejects the ideas of Žemaitaitis

The president of Seimas stressed that the main reason is health security considerations. V. Čmilytė – Nielsen rejected the suspicions expressed by Remigijus Žemaitaitis, member of the Seimas, president of the Freedom and Justice Party, that the objective is to preserve the composition of the current CC.

“The issue is outdated, it must be addressed, but when weighing the composition of the health security and the CC, the arguments related to reducing the risk of contagion seem to carry more weight,” said the parliamentary spokesman.

When asked if the rulers were not considering a possible appeal to the CC regarding the status of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Restorer Seimas Vytautas Landsbergis, the Speaker of Parliament replied: “To my knowledge, no.”

The term ended in March of last year

The Constitutional Court is made up of nine judges appointed for nine years and for one term only. The Constitutional Court is renewed every three years for one third. The candidates are nominated by the president, the president of the Seimas, and the president of the Supreme Court.

ELTA recalls that in the spring the Seimas rejected the three nominated candidates for the CC judges. The terms of the President of the Constitutional Court Dainius Žalimas, Judge Gediminas Mesonis and Judge Vytas Milius ended on March 19, 2020.