After the decision of the CC on the direct election of mayors, it is obvious: as it was, there will be no more

This resolution will take effect in 2023. This means that the current mayors will be able to hold office until the end of their term. And what will happen next Delphi the experts asked.

“I don’t hear any objection”

Andrius Kupčinskas, member of Seimas, representative of the Union of the Homeland – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), was mayor of Kaunas for two terms, from 2007 to 2015.

In 2015, after the approval of the procedure for direct mayoral elections, he participated in the mayoral elections, but they were won by Visvaldas Matijošaitis, a candidate nominated by the Vieningas Kaunas public electoral commission.

In 2019, A. Kupčinskas together with the conservative Stasys Šedbaras were the initiators of the appeal to the CC.

Delphi A. Kupčinskas explained that after the interpretation of the CC, it is clear that the directly elected mayor will no longer be able to be a member of the council.

“Today we have received the full explanation from the CC, so the only possible solution is to directly elect a mayor: the director of administration. The CC said that it did not matter what they called mayor, mayor or director of administration. But the directly elected mayor can no longer be a member of the council or its president, that is a fact. Like the members of the Seimas, the members of the municipal and district councils are all entitled to an equal mandate. This means that they are all the same, as are the members of the Seimas. After all, the president of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė – Nielsen does not have a voice advantage, ”said the deputy.

He affirmed that the interpretation of the CC also establishes that in cases in which the votes in the council are distributed equitably and everything is determined by the voice of the mayor, it is also in conflict with the Constitution.

“The CC spoke more widely, not only about our appeal. And there is a clear situation – the fact that, as it was, it will no longer be possible, no matter who comments, it is necessary to look at the norms of Constitutional Law and Law, establishes clear rules, ”said A .Kupčinskas.

The member of the Seimas affirmed that one of the possibilities: the mayor would continue to be elected directly, but would not belong to the council.

“The mayor would be accountable to the municipal council, but would not be a member of the council and would not have the right to vote on the council. But it would implement all the resolutions, budgets, strategic plans adopted by the council. The CC also stated that a situation cannot occur if the council members are elected in another way. This was the situation now: the absolute majority of the council members are elected in a multiple member and the mayor in a single member. The CC has made it clear that there cannot be a different way of electing the members of the council ”, said the parliamentarian.

A. Kupčinskas said that so far this idea has been discussed only in discussions, but there were no opponents to it in the National Union faction, positively, according to the interlocutor, this is also evaluated by other political forces in the Seimas.

“If we agree on such a position, it is very realistic to collect (votes, aut. P.). I do not hear objections in our group to think differently,” he said.

Seimas member A. Kupčinskas recalled that the problems of direct mayoral elections were already clear in 2014, when parliament approved this procedure.

“The citizens were pushed aside”

Vytautas Dumbliauskas, associate professor and political scientist at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), said he understood the interpretation of the CC, but urged not to forget the vital side of this decision.

“We need to distinguish between the formal and the real, the side of life. With the formal side, everything is fine. (…) The Constitution must be reformed. And the real side is democracy, active citizenship, the relationship with the government and that closeness, trust in the government, the opportunity for citizens to decide for themselves. Because if this is the case, everything remains in the hands of the party leaders, “said V. Dumbliauskas.

The political scientist recalled that the debate on direct mayoral elections began as early as the last century.

“Because there were forces that wanted that election, there were forces that opposed it. (…) Such resistance to direct mayoral elections was due to the fact that the candidacy of a particular mayor was decided by the party leaders in Vilnius. It was a cabinet game, those mayors changed, there were even several mayors in a legislature, citizens were pushed aside, “he said. Delphi interlocutor.

He considered that changing the Constitution and consolidating the direct elections of mayors that have been taking place since 2015 could fail the Seimas.

“It just came to our knowledge then. I find this issue sad as a citizen, I would even be in favor of directly electing the elders. I am afraid that the necessary majority of 94 members of the Seimas will not be formed. There may be some interest in returning to the previous order. If the vote were secret, it really should not be approved, it would not be verified who and how voted, “he said.

V. Dumbliauskas stated that returning to the previously valid procedure for the election of mayors would be beneficial for parties with a disciplined voter.

“For the conservatives, perhaps the Social Democrats, they have politicians in the province who reach the councils. The parties that have positions in the cities are in the council, they may not be interested. “Because the mayor becomes unpredictable, he is handed over to the citizens,” said the interlocutor.

The political scientist recalled that in Kaunas a disciplined conservative voter also elected a conservative mayor.

“And as soon as direct elections were available, a businessman appeared who was able to explain to the residents of Kaunas that he was better than A. Kupčinskas,” recalled V. Dumbliauskas.

The conservative A. Kupčinskas, one of the initiators of the call to the CC, proposed another new idea: the post of director of administration and executive power could be assigned to the directly elected mayor. The political scientist V. Dumbliauskas positively evaluated this idea.

“The question now is whether we want the mayor to be the president of the Seimas or the president of the Government. You have to decide, maybe it’s even a good idea. The Council is chaired by the President, who elects it and performs the function of President of the Seimas. And then the mayor takes the position of director of the administration, this idea has the right to exist, here it is a topic of discussion, “said the political scientist.

V. Dumbliauskas was surprised by the desire to fundamentally change all electoral systems.

“It just came to our attention then. The parliamentary election system was a compromise, it was smart enough. (…) The Constitution is not even 30 years old, I think that very little time should be left for future generations. (… ) I have the feeling that the conservatives want to play with fire, “said MRU political scientist V. Dumbliauskas.

“The tendencies in the closing of the political system are more and more pronounced”

Cultural historian and public figure Darius Kuolys Delphi He stated that all decisions will depend on the decision of the Seimas. And it is difficult to predict yet.

“It is difficult to predict the current Seimas, I would not dare to speculate on the prospects. But in any case, certain tendencies of closure of the political system are becoming clearer and stronger. The mere fact that electoral systems are being revised very quickly , very quickly. And the Seimas group is in a hurry to work, they do not start from what are the main problems of the electoral system now and what would be the goals of improving the electoral system, the parties do not speak about it publicly, “said D.

The interlocutor recalled that the president of the CC Dainius Žalimas was a “faithful supporter of the Unión Patria before joining the CC”.

“D. Green is a public declaration that the logic of the Constitution contradicts the dying electoral system of the Seimas, changing it to a proportional system only. It is a kind of search for the closure of the political system. Today’s questions would be very serious: Do we want an electoral system that makes our political and party system strong, open to the public, quite competitive, ideologically strong? Are we trying to further legitimize and strengthen the current political distrust, which is already very high? (…) It seems that the trends are towards closing, which is bad, ”explained D. Kuolys.

“Liberalism has fallen drastically since the Liberals came to power,” said interlocutor D. Kuolys.

Delphi Remember that the next municipal elections will take place in March 2023, the order of which cannot be changed six months before the scheduled elections.