Bedant Government Program – Respublika.lt

Bedant Government Program. Photo of Elta

The future government identifies as its greatest challenge the need to work for the world in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This Government is beginning to work not only for our country, but also for the entire world at a difficult time.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an exceptional health situation in the world that has caused the most painful loss of life today. But the long-term effects of the pandemic on human health are still unknown and unexplored. COVID-19 has already dealt an unprecedented blow to global economic development, but the renewed wave of the pandemic still does not allow us to predict the possible consequences for the world’s economies and individual countries. Current circumstances not only dictate the need to act quickly. The prevailing uncertainty (when we do not know how long the sample will last and what its final impact will be) creates the preconditions for a new look at the development trajectory of our country so far and, based on the knowledge, forecasts and data, to open a new progress sheet “.

The future Cabinet of Ministers has chosen two deadlines in which one or the other commitment will be achieved: 2024 and 2030. 2024 The achievements are expected to be modest, while in 2030 the commitments are impressive. It is not cheap to compromise when other governments will have to implement those goals. A concrete example. In the area of ​​social security, there is a compromise that the general risk-of-poverty rate will only fall to 17%. (currently – 20.6 percent). The employment rate of the population (15-64 years) will reach 72.5 percent. (currently – 70.7%). And here is 2030. The overall at-risk-of-poverty rate will drop to 14% and the employment rate (15-64) will hit 75%.

Although a large part of the citizenry, seeing the Government formed by the conservatives together with two even more liberal parties that strongly promote homosexuality, feared that this would be reflected in the program, there is nothing like it. There are only a few very fancy phrases in which sexual minorities are not even directly named.

“The state is for all people. The government is implementing the goals established for the state. It must reconcile the interests of groups in society without raising some interests above others. We want everyone in our country to feel equal, valued , have the same opportunities, “says all the people.” He will also add: “We will eliminate all forms of discrimination and create equal opportunities for all social groups, and we will promote zero tolerance for all forms of violence.” However, the desire promoted by the liberals to decriminalize “the possession of small amounts of psychoactive substances without the purpose of distribution” is clearly manifested.

Some of the points appear to have been removed from Saulius Skvernelis’s government program. The I.Šimonytė team also loves that it is especially transparent, open, listens to all opinions, pays special attention to regional politics, reduces social inequality, restores trust in law enforcement, promotes intolerance of corruption, etc. Have you heard something? However, the radical difference is that there is no “professional government”. And what stands out the most when looking at the draft program of the Government of I. Šimonytė is that most of the aspirations are rather declarations, because it is not even an approximation how they will be achieved. In the Seimas, the Government will have to approve a plan of measures for the implementation of its program, which will already have to be more specific, but there must also be some specificity in the program itself.

Incidentally, the outgoing Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis also realized this.

“I read the program. Many slogans, the feeling when reading is that it was seen somewhere: these are many of the provisions of the current interim government program. The foundations are laid on the bills that are being implemented or being presented to the Seimas, “said S. Skvernelis.

I.Šimonytė does not hide the similarities of the two programs.

“The fact that someone sees the continuation of the work, I do not see any problem here. I said that no one is planning any revolution, and those things that have been done well but not done will continue. I don’t see any problem here, “the prime minister-designate said.

If the Government of I. Šimonytė did not keep some promises, a large part of society would only rejoice. After all, the future Cabinet of Ministers is trying to legalize dual citizenship, online voting, etc. However, physicians and educators, who are promised special attention, would probably not be satisfied if this promise were relegated to the background. Another very interesting promise is responsible financial policy. If it is as responsible as it was under the previous Conservative government in 2008-2012, the public debt is likely to rise rapidly to 100 percent. GDP.

Among other things, the future government will seek an EU-wide blockade of the Astrava nuclear power plant and “guarantee a principled state position against Russian aggression.”

The adoption of the program in the Seimas is scheduled for tomorrow. If not rejected, the oath of office of the new Government will take place immediately afterwards, and the Cabinet of Ministers of S. Skvernel will go down in history.