Green tends to support TS-LKD: EVS is not that simple

EVS problem

D. Žalimas, former president of the Constitutional Court, says that the answer to who has to go to the European Council (EVS) is found in the basic law of the country.

President Gitanas Nausėda explains that he must travel to these meetings, and some representatives of the ruling National Union, the Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), assure that Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė must do so.

Dalia Grybauskaitė, the outgoing head of state, also presented her position on Tuesday. After G. Nausėda’s annual report, D. Grybauskaitė declared that the Constitution is on the side of the President on this matter.

However, D. Žalimas explained that this is still a debatable issue.

“I’ll say this, the issue is moot. Not in vain has it been decided in some countries and at the level of the Constitutional Courts, I am referring to Romania and Poland. Not everything is so simple for a reason: if EU affairs belong to foreign policy. After answering this question, we will find out who should represent Lithuania in EVS. I think there are definitely places for discussion ”, he assured.

Mr Žalimas outlined his position on the program and said that a large part of the EU’s affairs are matters of internal politics.

“Obviously, this can no longer be called foreign affairs, because we live in the same space with other EU countries, we live according to the same Constitution. And it is clear that the Constitution should not be understood as it was before 2004, before accession to the EU. And the field of foreign policy has shrunk considerably since then ”, recalled the interlocutor of the program.

D. Žalimas, the former president of the CC, explained that he did not want to say categorically what should happen in the EVS at this time.

“I think this is a debatable topic,” he said.

G. Nausėda mentions the tradition of the president going to EVS as one of his arguments. D. Žalimas stated that he must also comply with the Constitution.

“You see, there is a Constitution and all traditions must abide by it. Certainly the CC has not resolved this issue, now it is difficult for me to say to what extent this tradition complies with the Constitution ”, said the former president of the CC.

Referendums are not possible on all issues.

In his annual report, President G. Nausėda mentioned that “we should extend the period for collecting signatures necessary for a referendum and give people the right to sign electronically.”

D. Žalimas taught that referendums on some issues simply cannot be resolved.

“I would say yes, looking at what the problems refer to. There are some issues that cannot be resolved at all by referendum. For example, the Constitutional Court has made it very clear that issues related to the denial of natural human rights are not addressed at all. they can resolve in any referendum. The majority cannot dictate to a minority or an individual what is in the air and what is not, “said D. Žalimas, former president of the CC.

The guest of the program said that if a referendum is held on the enactment of the Public Limited Companies Law, it is “very doubtful that the Constitution will be complied with.”

“Because the majority cannot really deal with the issue of natural rights that belong to every human being. But here is a matter to consider further. (…) And in general, I admit it, I have a negative view of the abundance of referendums. Because this is one of the definitions of political populism when used for populist purposes “, D. Žalimas shared his opinion.

He said that lowering the referendum poster was also “a matter of political self-determination.”

Disagreements with politicians

D. Žalimas stated in the program that after this finished story he feels “as if he has escaped to freedom”.

“Now I can really speak my mind and that is very rewarding. On the other hand, of course, when it comes to those 15 months, it’s great that I had to stay 15 months when I felt compelled. But I think we are not in vain, meanwhile, many important problems have been solved. And this is the happiest. Certainly no one managed to obtain the desired decisions of the court, ”said the former president of the CC.

Mr. Žalimas acknowledged that the situation in which he had 15 months to work in this position “was not normal”.

“But the Seimas may or may not appoint a judge or an official. The saddest thing is that everything lasted 15 months, it could have been faster,” he explained.

The guest of the program also had to answer questions about the influence of courts and judges. The interlocutor of the program assured that he had found it.

“I have faced it, there have been all kinds of attempts. (…) All the conspiracy theories that supposedly combine decisions, attributed to me to one or another political force, arose after a decision unfavorable to a political force. Precisely by the special investigation commission of the Seimas. I think it was obvious that there was a certain decision, it was questionable if I was fulfilling my duties legally. A complaint was made to the Venice Commission. It makes you smile, ”he explained.

D. Žalimas pointed out that there were isolated cases in which the CC tried to obtain certain decisions from other representatives of the legal community.

“There have been cases of this type, but we have never obeyed,” said the interlocutor of the program.

When asked why politicians are trying to influence the decisions of the CC, D. Žalimas considered it for specific interests.

“It just came to our knowledge then. For example, the CC was interested in solving the case of the powers of the old government as soon as possible, out of turn. I don’t know, I only see political interest in it. And who is it, not really I’m going to start guessing, “said D. Žalimas.

The CC and the former majority of the Lithuanian Union of Greens and Peasants (LVŽS) were often lit.

“I’d say that spark started right after that Seimas special investigation case. I think some politicians here are too primitive. They find it too easy to divide everything into black and white. And if the decision is not a good one for them, then the court works for another political force ”, he explained.

D. Žalimas said that politicians evaluate the decisions of the CC through its prism.

“This court is not a political institution, it makes decisions that are not based on political arguments,” said D. Žalimas, guest of the program “Informative comments with Arnas Mazėčius”.

Delphi recalls that last summer the CC decided that the temporary commission of inquiry headed by Agnė Širinskienė, a representative of LVŽS, which investigated the possible impact on decision-makers and political processes, had been formed in violation of the Constitution and its conclusions they were illegal.

The Commission investigated three episodes that occurred during the years 2013-2014, 2017 and 2018, related to the activities of the Ethics Commission of the Chief Service, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the appeal of a group of members of the Seimas to the CC on the Pensions Law . Accumulation.

After this decision, A. Širinskienė assured that such judicial decision is “a conversation between the conservatives and the president of the CC”.

“What evidence? This is simply absurd. I mean, here is the primitivism of politics, populism. But I can only be glad that it has not damaged the authority of the court in any way. People are not stupid, they understand that politicians live by completely different laws than the courts. And it is customary for them to throw such accusations. I would say that here there is a low political culture ”, commented D. Žalimas.

He said that if the Seimas commission was formed to investigate all political processes within 10 years, it was “obviously an impossible task.”

“The law cannot oblige us to comply with impossible reasons,” said D. Žalimas, former president of the CC.

Asked about the future and if he does not rule out the possibility of “entering politics”, D. Žalimas explained that “no possibility can be ruled out.”

“Because you really cannot know what you will do in 3-4 years,” said D. Žalimas, former president of the CC, in the program “Informative comments with Arnas Mazėčius”.

You can see the full conversation here.