He appreciated the ambition of the “peasants” to form a shadow government: what message are they sending and what can they gain?

Some experts point out that this shadow government is not a general project of the opposition, but only a farce of “peasants”, which was created to give visibility in the public space. Meanwhile, other political scientists, on the contrary, believe that the successful operation of the shadow Cabinet of Ministers would make the operation of the opposition more constructive and more mobilize the work of the royal government.

R. Urbonaitė: The shadow government is a false formation through which the “peasants” seek attention

Rima Urbonaitė, political scientist from the Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), is critical of the initiative of the “peasants” to form a shadow government. According to her, it is unlikely that a shadow cabinet of ministers can be held after the elections due to the fact that coalition governments are always formed in Lithuania.

“These will be exclusively candidates for the post of shadow ministers proposed by the ‘peasants’. It is not a general formation of the opposition, it is just a kind of government made up of “peasants”, which in reality, we probably all understand, could never exist for the simple reason that we have coalition governments and governments are never formed from of one of the parties, R. Urbonaitė told Eltai.

“This time we have such a farce that the ‘peasants’ will call out to the shadow government, and basically it will be only certain people who will probably follow the most and become interested in the work of certain royal ministers and try to criticize them,” he added. she added.

R. Urbonaitė also raises the question of whether the shadow “peasant” government will really become an alternative to the current government.

“For me, it is more like an attempt to attract attention, to create a certain event, but I highly doubt that this government will soon become a simple sham. Therefore, I have no illusions that such a thing works. I think that there is simply a desire on the part of the “peasants” to draw attention to themselves and send a message that “we also have people who are interested in one area or another and can criticize the royal ministers in that area”, the political scientist . said.

L. Bielinis: The operation of the shadow government also mobilizes the real government

Professor Lauras Bielinis from Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) believes that the initiative of the “peasants” to establish a shadow government is a positive boost for the Lithuanian political system.

In fact, the existence of the shadow cabinet is very relevant in the political sense, because in this way the opposition demonstrates to the public its understanding of all economic processes and declares those possible actions, decisions that they would take if they were in real power ” Eltai said.

In this way, the shadow cabinet shows future voters not only an abstract desire to win the elections, but also a specific alignment of those people who, if they lose the elections, would become the Government and perform the functions of the Government. . . In this way, the voter would already be choosing not only slogans and leaders, but also a very clear and concrete Government. That’s very good ”, he also emphasized.

The political scientist is convinced that the “peasants”, by forming a shadow Cabinet of Ministers, also seek personal political benefits, that is, greater visibility in society.

“It is clear that publicity and visibility will increase. But, on the other hand, it is not populism, because actually populism is very abstract, populism never declares concrete and clear solutions. Meanwhile, the announcement of the shadow government really empowers those individuals, politicians and political parties to declare very specific actions, concrete alternative solutions, ”he said.

L. Bielinis believes that the establishment of a shadow government can have a positive impact on the activities of the royal government.

“The functioning of the shadow government in some way mobilizes both the real government and the rulers. Because, in fact, when the decisions, opinions and positions of the shadow government are clearly expressed, then the rulers who really act must act. even more responsibly and even more decisively in his field. This is normal competition, “said L. Bielinis.

The political scientist agrees that the shadow cabinet is more typical of two-party systems, when it is more or less clear who the new ministers would be if the president loses the elections. However, L. Bielinis emphasizes that even in the Lithuanian political system, the shadow government does not lose its relevance.

“In fact, in a two-party system, the shadow cabinet is very clear and then appropriate after the election is won. In our situation, if the coalition forces win, the cabinet must reorganize and reorganize, because you also have to admit other political forces ”, admitted L. Bielinis.

“But even in a political situation like ours, the presence of a shadow cabinet shows that a political party has specialists, personalities, leaders who can and could assume the responsibility of leading one or another ministry. In this way, we see not only the party with the party’s slogans, but we also see a list of people with very clearly defined functions, that is, the functions of the Government, ”said Vytautas Magnus University political scientist.

M. Jurkynas: It is not difficult to form a shadow government, but it is necessary to ensure its functionality.

In turn, Mindaugas Jurkynas, professor at the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy at Vytautas Magnus University (Vytautas Magnus University), recalls L. Bielinis, emphasizing that he welcomes the establishment of the shadow government, regardless of the strength politics in the opposition.

“I consider that the formation of the shadow government is generally positive, regardless of who is in the opposition. Because once the conservatives, when Andrius Kubilius was the president of the party, they had also proclaimed the shadow government at least one couple of times, only that it basically proclaimed itself and did nothing more than the shadow government. It acted like an ordinary opposition, “said the political scientist.

“As I have congratulated you in the past, I congratulate you now, as we hope, in accordance with the principles of the shadow cabinet, that you will not be an opposition in itself, asking the ministers and ministers in the Seimas during the Hour of Government, but it will be semantic. “The importance of ministerial equivalents,” he added.

Therefore, M. Jurkynas emphasizes that the ambition to form a shadow government does not mean that it really works. According to him, the most important thing is that the shadow Cabinet regularly presents reports, alternative proposals, which, he said, is not an easy task.

“Training is not difficult, training is an internal matter for the opposition, especially if it is a single party, but the essence is execution. Because publishing is one thing, as the conservatives have done, but there is another to be implemented ”, he emphasized.

“In any case, both the government and the opposition need to communicate what they are doing, how they are doing it, why they are doing it, what they are proposing and what it will bring to the economy, security, culture or some other area. . It is natural that the establishment of a shadow government is good, but it must be carried out, there must be constant monitoring of the different areas and the shadow cabinet ministers must express their proposals, ”he emphasized.

According to the political scientist of the University Vytautas Magnus, the work of the opposition would be more efficient if the “peasants” correctly carried out the functions of the shadow government.

“In such a case, the public in Lithuania would be able to see consistently and with the counterparts in the areas supervised by the ministries both the solutions to the problems proposed and implemented by the government and the alternative and critical solutions proposed by the opposition. And then, through that position-opposition debate and a different approach, it is possible to evaluate political activity and make decisions during the elections, ”he said.