Former prime ministers have appreciated the change in governments: such emotions of politicians are shocking

“As a former prime minister, I am really shocked by such unreasonable communication and making unnecessary comments. A public outburst of certain emotions is completely unnecessary for people at the level of prime ministers or ministers. In a pandemic, they should display a completely different culture. After all, that is the life of a politician. If you work in a position of responsibility, you should not grow with them, but you should know that you have come for four years and during this period you must achieve as many objectives as possible and meet people’s expectations, ”A. Butkevičius told Eltai.

At that time, G. Kirkilas affirms that hot emotions when changing government are common to all politicians. Kirkilas, on the other hand, acknowledges that in a coronavirus pandemic, the political atmosphere could be less harsh.

“There are always emotions when there is a change of government. This was the case in all cases. I didn’t see much difference here. Of course, there were no such pandemics, but there were other crises. I think it was possible to refrain from some emotions during this pandemic. But I don’t think they are very strong here either. The outgoing government wants their work to be evaluated positively. The incoming government is trying to take positions that something was wrong or was not done. In this sense, these are normal political emotions, but maybe everything could be less sharp, ”he told Eltai.

A. Butkevičius thinks otherwise and claims that during his time as head of the 16th Cabinet of Ministers, the change of government was constant.

“It just came to my knowledge then. When I was prime minister and lost the elections, I met with the designated prime minister, S. Skvernel. So I told him that until the government program is approved, if he wanted, he could settle in my office, if that was the case, he could also go to the chancery. And if he needs someone during that period to be consulted by the Government, I have told him that the door is open for him everywhere. We certainly also have coffee during the period of three weeks in which he formed the Cabinet. I passed on all the information to him and, I think, it was a smooth transfer, “A. Butkevičius shared his memories.

When asked how he values ​​the situation when on Sunday S. Skvernelis and Aurelijus Veryga did not attend the meeting initiated by the president with the members of the Council of Health Experts, A. Butkevičius stated that looking at it, of course, was negative. According to him, S. Skvernelis and A. Veryga showed disrespect to the community of scientists fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am very negative about the absence of the Acting Minister of Health and S. Skvernelis from the Presidency. This is disrespectful not only to the presidential institution itself, but it is disrespectful to the scientists and experts who are currently saving time both in their direct roles and in helping the authorities to manage the pandemic. Therefore, I could not find justifiable words for either the Prime Minister or the Minister of Health, ”said A. Butkevičius.

At the time, Mr. Kirkilas said that various expert groups in different authorities could lead to conflicting assessments and confusion in society.

“In general, I wonder if all institutions need to create separate expert groups. This is a great question because experts often like to give different opinions. This then enters the public space the opinions of some experts, then – the opinions of others.

These opinions are often even contradictory and misleading with each other. I believe that in this situation, all the institutions should act in unison. When they appear different, institutions automatically begin to compete. As a result, those things happened here. In my opinion, the President and the Government should try to work together, especially in a pandemic crisis, ”Kirkilas said.

A. Butkevičius also appreciated I. Šimonytė’s public appeal to S. Skvernelis, in which the Prime Minister-designate requested the adoption of stricter quarantine conditions at the Government meeting as soon as possible. According to A. Butkevičius, I. Šimonyte needed to discuss the situation in the country with the acting Prime Minister, first in person, and not through the media.

“It just came to our attention then. I understand the interim prime minister in part. Maybe he regrets why I. Šimonytė just couldn’t call him or come speak before the government meeting. Sure, I don’t know how they communicate, but maybe I had to go talk and have coffee first before the government meeting.

But maybe me. Šimonytė did not dare to do that, because after all, she constantly heard various epithets about her (…) But, of course, they must be asked why these emotions arose. However, I. Šimonyte first had to call and offer to discuss the situation. S. Skvernelis also did not have to name (address – ELTA) as public relations campaigns, ”said A. Butkevičius.