Following the meeting with Nausėda, Conservative leaders discussed the principles for starting coalition negotiations.

“We talked about the principles of how we will start the negotiations. We present how we see it. The formal negotiations have not started yet. (…) We have thought that we reached the negotiations without red lines, first of all, first we are ready to listen to the partners of the coalition, we have no plans for ourselves, we want to hear what the coalition partners see and then start the discussion from there, ”said G. Landsbergis.

List leader TS-LKD mentioned that the competence of the candidates is more important than arithmetic calculations, dividing the positions.

“Proportions are probably important for the initial discussion, but much more important are the jobs and the people who can do those jobs. If it happened that some potential coalition partner nominated a candidate for a ministry that we also nominated a candidate for, but that candidate would have more confidence in society, and in my personal opinion would be a better candidate, it certainly wouldn’t have a big problem of that the candidate is not a TS. -LKD, and candidate for coalition partners. I think the most important thing is to agree on the job and to be able to work together ”, said I. Šimonytė.

TS-LKD President G. Landsbergis reiterated the idea expressed above to cooperate with some of the elected members who won the elections defending themselves. He did not rule out that Vytautas Bakas and Algirdas Butkevičius could be among those people.

I don’t think there is any controversy about the welfare state approach

Conservative leaders said they spoke about the situation during the meeting with the president, heard congratulations and offered more cooperation. The welfare state was also discussed during the meeting with the head of the country. I. Šimonytė stated that he did not see any fundamental contradiction between G. Nausėda and his approach to this issue.

“It seems to me that this has never been a conceptual dispute. It is a question of non-initiation, but of content, ”said I. Šimonytė, who after the meeting said that he had the impression that the president knew his party’s program.

He stressed that, in his opinion, a welfare state is not possible without trust. Therefore, conservatives aim to restore confidence in policies and decisions. I. Šimonytė also mentioned strong public services and the creation of opportunities for people who feel separated from the general dynamics as elements of the welfare state.

Will review commitments

The TS-LKD list leader said he sees a number of views where his positions and those of the coalition partners coincide. In one of them, he mentioned the fact that the State must enter the field of business only as a last resort.

“We have a very similar vision, where the market works or where other state interventions are needed, let’s say regulation, taxes, some kind of antitrust law, that’s what the state should do, and pitch to business only as a last resort, when nothing works, ”said I. Šimonytė.

According to the politician, there is also a good consensus that “people must be kept to a minimum with requirements that do not generate significant added value, but only generate administrative and bureaucratic flow.”

“We can see that we often get lost in those requirements, both by ourselves and by the institutions that have to implement them,” said I. Šimonytė, who believes that a culture of trust would allow us to abandon some redundant requirements.

According to a possible prime ministerial candidate, the government’s DNA plan will be discussed.

“We will probably find a consensus on how we can adjust the draft budget for next year so that we do not make commitments that are not important and significant for our future development,” said I. Šimonytė.

The TS-LKD list leader confirmed this with 2021. He will not propose new fiscal initiatives in the budget.

“With this year’s budget, there are some technical changes presented by the Government, which I believe will be maintained. (…) And we probably wouldn’t want to offer any initiatives in the field of taxation until the end of the year, because there are no opportunities to discuss them normally and, finally, there is no need for that, ”said I. Šimonytė.

He agreed to discuss a zero rate on reinvested earnings.

“But then you have to be very clear about the whole fiscal model. Does that mean what we tax, use, or the remaining earnings, or do we apply some other principles? These are topics of discussion. (…) We have time, it is not a matter of today ”Said I. Šimonytė.

Conservatives who have been in the opposition so far won Sunday’s elections with 50 seats and began talks on a ruling center-right coalition with the Liberal Movement and the Freedom Party. These forces would have a fragile majority of 74 members in the Seimas. Conservatives are calling for other parties to meet as well.