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“I believe that by sincerely focusing on everyone’s strengths, we can make sure and ensure that people are not really afraid of not being able to find a place to live with their children.” I believe that we can do more so that people of a certain nationality and faith do not worry about their survival, their place of residence, their work. I am very convinced that just because of a disability, it will not seem that a person’s diploma is more valuable than other people’s, ”said candidate B. Sabatauskaitė from the Seimas’ rostrum.
This candidacy proposed by the president of Seimas was criticized for alleged agreements between the ruler and the opposition faction of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), of which the candidate’s father, Julius Sabatauskas, is a member. He withdrew from the debate and voted at the beginning of the matter.
The candidate herself, in response to this criticism, said that she believed she had the appropriate skills and experience in the field of human rights.
“I value the upbringing of my parents without ceasing, my family is very important to me, I think they transmitted the correct values to me. I am the head of an independent non-governmental organization that has been working in this field for many years, I believe that I have the competence and knowledge to communicate with very different communities in order to recognize cases of discrimination,
Mykolas Majauskas, a member of the Lithuanian Christian Democratic-National Union faction, also encouraged the evaluation of the candidate’s competencies and not of kinship ties.
“We can only be thankful that the respected J. Sabatauskas has raised a man who cares not only for his personal affairs, but also for the whole of Lithuania. I believe that the esteemed B. Sabatauskaitė is a suitable candidate and will be able to take care of those people who even now we have not been able to take care. I invite you not to speak of thoughts of nepotism, supposedly condescension, kinship or other things, “said M. Majauskas in the discussion about the candidate for the Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities.
Meanwhile, Mindaugas Puidokas, a member of the Labor Party faction, said that he and other members of the Seimas had been contacted by public organizations who spoke out against the candidacy of B. Sabatauskaitė. According to him, the candidate would represent only the interests of a small group of people.
“Personally, as a member of the Seimas, I have received many similar appeals in which organizations and active citizens have expressed serious concerns, arguing that only one group of people will be represented at most. Opponents of the candidate claim that while working as director of the Center for Human Rights, she was more active in the field of LGBTQ needs, ”said M. Puidokas, a member of the Labor Party faction.
Responding to statements about the letters sent to the members of the Seimas, the Social Democrat Gintautas Paluckas, like several other members of the Seimas, claimed that these letters were written in the same text, repeating the same arguments, and some of the
“Some of the people who wrote those letters asked me bluntly who the director of this institution was before. Many do not even know that person. Where did that emphasis come from due to the role of B. Sabatauskaitė? ”G. Paluckas asked.
He was also supported by Dovilė Šakalienė, a member of the LSDP faction, who said that B. Sabatauskaitė had the support of more than 100 organizations working in various fields of human rights.
Meanwhile, not all members of the TS-LKD group supported this candidacy. The conservative Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė criticized not so much the competences of the candidate herself as the development of the competences of the Office of the Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities. He stated that he did not object to the institution seeking to combat various forms of discrimination, but questioned the intention of the service to acquire the right to evaluate the legality of the law or to go to the Administrative Court without a complaint from the victim.
“The aim was to equate the Office of the Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities and its powers with the powers of the Prosecutor’s Office and even, in a sense, the Constitutional Court,” said V. Aleknaitė-Abramikienė.
Members of the Lithuanian Greens and Peasants faction were also not united. Valius Ąžuolas stated that the candidate would support only LGBT rights, and Dainius Kepenis raised the question why the appointment of current ombudsman Agneta Skardžiuvienė for the second term was not considered. Meanwhile, “peasant” Tom Tomilin supported the candidate, saying that he appreciated the candidate’s skills and versatility.
Since 2010 B. Sabatauskaitė works at the Lithuanian Center for Human Rights. She was appointed Director of the Center and Head of Advocacy in 2013. In this capacity, she organized research on the human rights situation in Lithuania, commented on legislation, prepared and led several projects on equal opportunities, and organized and conducted training on equality. of gender, non-discrimination and prevention and prevention of domestic violence.
The mandate of the current Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities A. Skardžiuvienė ended in June last year, she was appointed Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities in 2015, on the proposal of the then President of the Seimas Loreta Graužinienė.
According to the Equal Opportunities Law, a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania with an impeccable reputation, a higher university legal education and at least 10 years of legal work experience can be appointed ombudsman for equal opportunities. The Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities is appointed by the Seimas for a period of five years on the proposal of the President of the Seimas. The same person can be appointed as ombudsman for equal opportunities no more than twice in a row.
According to the law, a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania with an impeccable reputation, a higher university legal training and at least 10 years of legal work experience can be appointed ombudsman for equal opportunities.
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