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According to the petition’s author, Guoda Burokienė, president of the Seimas Public Administration and Municipalities Commission, registered such amendments to the CEC Law on June 4.
Commissioners are more concerned with the proposal to enact such a provision that “a member of the Central Election Commission will carry out the duties of the President of the Central Election Commission and report on its compliance.” They also note that the amendments were registered only four months before the Seimas elections.
The amendments are said to have been prepared in accordance with the STT recommendations
Delfi herself was taught by G. Burokienė that the amendments would apply to the new composition of the CEC, which will be approved in nine months. Delfi points out that when the amendment to the law is opened, it is not visible that the date of entry into force of the law is indicated.
The President of the Commission of Public Administration and Municipalities emphasized that the amendments had been prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the Special Investigation Service.
“The CCA itself did not heed these recommendations,” said G. Burokienė.
The Public Administration and Municipalities Committee assured that the amendments were not intended to interfere with the independence of the CCA members.
“It just caught our eye then. We just want to regulate their work, ”said G. Burokienė.
V. Sinkevičius: the amendments create a precondition to violate the independence of the commissioners
Vytautas Sinkevičius, a constitutional law specialist and professor at Mykolas Romeris University, also agrees that CCA members’ anxiety is motivated.
“I think the problem is. According to the Constitution, only the Seimas forms the CCA, changes its composition, but the CEC is a collegiate institution that makes all decisions in a collegial manner, and the votes of all CEC members have the same weight. The vote of the President of the Commission has no more weight than the votes of other members of the Commission, “said V. Sinkevičius.
The constitutional law specialist emphasized that one of the principles enshrined in the country’s Basic Law is that elections can only be organized by an independent commission, independent of any person or political authority.
“Commissioners must be autonomous and independent. And this rule creates preconditions to control the members of the Commission, their decisions and give them orders,” said V. Sinkevičius.
According to the professor, to speak about the organization of the CEC’s work, so that the Commissioners act responsibly, fulfill their duties, do not push the work of others, so that the secretariat does not work for the Commission, it is necessary to think about a reform fundamental of the CCA.
“These amendments presuppose a violation of the independence of the Commissioners and, at the same time, a violation of the Constitution, since the elections would not be conducted by an independent, unaffected Commission, but by a Commission whose decisions would largely depend on the position of the President of the Commission. I think this amendment is basically correctable, “said V. Sinkevičius.
The amendments are called undemocratic.
CEC members who signed the petition gave six reasons why, in their opinion, the proposed amendments were flawed.
One of them is that the CCA is a collegiate institution whose activities are based on the principles of legality, independence, openness and impartiality. (…) According to the authors of the appeal, no state or official institution can give binding instructions regarding the resolution of problems within the competence of the CEC.
They also note that persons delegated by the President, the Minister of Justice and the Lithuanian Bar Association to the parties elected to the Seimas by the parties that have received the mandates of the members of the Seimas in a multi-member constituency are appointed members. of the CCA. There are no employment contracts with CEC members, they are not bound by the subordinate relationship with the CCA president as head of the institution, all CEC members are equal in decision-making. (…) CEC members report on their activities at CEC public meetings.
The petitioners note that the constitutional principle of a state under the rule of law requires that judicial and law enforcement institutions be impartial, independent, seek to establish objective truth, and make decisions only on the basis of law. . In carrying out functions important to society and the state, state institutions and officials should not be in danger if they carry out their functions without violating the law, the authors of the appeal note said.
Fourth, the bill proposes a legal regulation that legitimizes the possibility of directly interfering in the activities of CEC members in the context of the upcoming Seimas elections, which can be assessed as a distortion of the CCA as an institution. independent and collegiate.
Giving the CEC President the legal instruments to directly or indirectly influence CEC members, as well as the CEC as a whole, would lay the groundwork for transforming the CEC into a largely one-person body, in violation of the principle of independence of CCA members. cannot give binding instructions to CCA members. There is no doubt that such a solution would be treated in the context of national and international law as an undemocratic act, destroying the stability and confidence of citizens in the electoral system, “the speech read.
Commission members who have signed the petition also object to intentions to establish the procedure for public announcement of the amount of wages paid individually to specific CCA members on the CCA website. In his opinion, this is contrary to the legal provision that, according to data protection, only the average salary of the institution’s staff should be published according to the current position, as is currently the case.
The petition was signed by Andrius Puksas, CCA Vice-President, Svetlana Misevičienė, CCA Undersecretary, and Olga Kilkinova, Jūratė Lebedevienė, Gitana Matiekuvienė, Maksimas Reznikovas, Tauras Rutkūnas, Valdemaras Urban, Egidijus Visktas.
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