After the failed vote in the Seimas, the tension did not disappear: he was surprised by such a decision by the rulers.

Professor Lauras Bielinis of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) believes that this vote was not a defeat for the ruling coalition, but a failure of the Freedom Party. According to the political scientist, the latter party did not appreciate the complexity of the process and the need for exceptional preparation.

“It seems to me that the Freedom Party is in more of a hurry than the coalition partners wanted to solve this problem. It is probably not a defeat, it is a failure. It seemed that the ruling general, not only the Conservatives, but also the Party of Freedom, first of all, wanted to solve this problem in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, without prior preparation, without discussion, this issue remains stagnant, “L. Bielinis told Eltai.

Meanwhile, Saulius Šiliauskas, a political scientist at Klaipėda University (KU), was also surprised by such a decisive decision, but considered that it was probably a tactical decision of all the initiators of the coalition project, determined by the desire to finally settle the Alliance. in this spring session.

“So suddenly, these days, and not in the course of June there, presenting the first stage was probably not a tactical decision of the Freedom Party. To vote here and now, there were probably some conjunctural calculations from the management that started it, the calculation was accepted at the presentation stage very quickly ”, thinks S. Šiliauskas.

However, the KU political scientist does not rule out that it was the conservatives who were interested in solving this matter as soon as possible. According to S. Šiliauskas, the resistance in society, another “Family March” planned for June, would have hurt them much more than the Freedom Party.

TS-LKD probably tried to maneuver seeing the tension and their initial calculation was to somehow suppress this extension of the ‘Family March’ in mid-June, as the organizers of the march had estimated that there would be a submission stage around that day, “said Šiliauskas.

After an unsuccessful vote in the Seimas, tensions over the Association Law did not disappear

The KU political scientist believes that after a failed vote, tensions on this issue remain both in society and among rulers, as the issue itself remains unresolved.

“The passions seemed to subside, but not in the way that the ruling TS-LKD had repressed. Apparently they expected to accept the first stage, it was an optimistic intention to accept this issue in this session,” said S. Šiliauskas.

However, L. Bielinis believes that the prolonged debate on this issue may exhaust the conservatives themselves, and the adoption of this law would close the issue both on the liberal and Christian flanks of non-consensual conservatives and in the governing coalition in general.

“Adopting would mean less discussion, because somehow everything is resolved and we would move on to other issues, and in the current situation we will hear many disagreements, reproaches and tensions will increase for a long time (…) discussions will take place,” rubber seasons “for a long time, that both the discussion and the confrontational speeches from both sides will last longer. I think this will upset the ruling people and especially the conservatives in some way, ”says my political scientist at VMU.

TS-LKD wants to maintain the image of a European party, but in the West the Association is accepted in a completely different context

However, L. Bielinis does not believe that the Law of Association was important only to the Freedom Party. According to him, the TS-LKD is trying to create the image of a western conservative party, so they were probably also interested in solving the problem.

“The biggest concern was on the side of the Freedom Party, but the conservatives have a certain interest, because they wanted to keep up with that European trend and in some respects this issue also had to be resolved,” said a VMU political scientist.

However, S. Šiliauskas emphasizes that a completely different ideological context prevailed in European countries, which adopted gender-neutral association or even marriage laws 15 or 20 years ago. According to him, currently the ideas of liberal democracy are gaining less and less popularity and support both in the West and in Lithuania, making it increasingly difficult for Lithuanian conservatives to support the Association Law.

“It just came to our attention then. Even when similar laws are passed in other countries, the philosophical and worldview context for liberal democracy is completely different, much more favorable than it is now, 15-20 years later. The approach of the ideas of liberal democracy is completely different, ”says S. Šiliauskas, noting at the same time that the fragmented TS-LKD on this issue may become a much less attractive coalition partner for other parties of the right-wing coalition.

“The question of how much this party, as such divided, can continue to be seen as a reliable negotiating partner,” said the KU political scientist.

ELTA recalls that the gender-neutral Association bill, which arouses many emotions in society, was rejected and returned to the Seimas on Tuesday already in the presentation stage. The initiative had the support of 63 parliamentarians, 58 voted against and 7 abstained.