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67 parliamentarians voted in favor of said draft Seimas resolution at the presentation stage, none were against, six abstained. It will be further considered by the committees.
The proposal was presented by Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arūnas Gumuliauskas, Chairmen of the Seimas Science and Education Committee and the State Struggle for Freedom and Historical Memory Commission.
According to them, it is necessary to assess the exceptional importance of this date in the struggle of the Lithuanian nation for freedom and independence.
According to A. Gumuliauskas, most parliamentarians would like to include January 13, Freedom Defenders Day, in the list of non-working days, but there is no agreement on which holidays should be abandoned in exchange, because Lithuania already has more non-working days than the European Union average.
“It just came to our attention then. (…) To this day I see no other way to properly commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of January 13,” said A. Gumuliauskas on Thursday.
He regretted that disagreements and fears that another day off would be detrimental to the economy means that January 13 could not be included in the Labor Code as a day off.
“This is the day of our victory and therefore today we have an independent state and an independent economy,” said A. Gumuliauskas.
He hoped that this Seimas resolution would give a positive impetus to change the Labor Code.
Seimas’ lawyers raised doubts about whether the day of unemployment could be declared by a Seimas resolution without modifying the Labor Code. According to them, there is generally no work on public holidays, the list of which is established by the Labor Code. In addition, Freedom Defenders Day is enshrined in the Memorial Days Act.
“Therefore, a proposal is presented through a Seimas resolution to announce a specific date – January 13, 2021 – a non-working day does not comply with current legal regulations,” concluded the Seimas Legal Department.
Conservatives Laurynas Kasčiūnas and Dainius Kreivys registered the project to declare Unemployment Day on January 13 by entering it into the Labor Code, but has not yet been discussed.
On January 13, the victims of January 13, 1991, during the actions of the Soviet army in Vilnius were honored. The Soviets attempted to overthrow the legitimate Lithuanian government by military force, which declared the country’s independence from the USSR on March 11, 1990.
14 people died when Soviet troops stormed the Vilnius television tower and the building of the Radio and Television Committee.
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