Januška: If Šimonytė does not send another list, Nausėda will have to confirm the one sent

According to legal and political experts, the “examination” of the candidates for ministers may negatively affect the head of state himself: G. Nausėda cornered himself with his speeches and the future of the joint work of the Government and the Presidency became dependent on the new Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.

Nausėda fell into the trap of the Presidency and does not know whose interests are

“It is clear that the presidency has done everything possible. Paradoxically, today not only the Government, but also the Presidency, the future of their joint work is in the hands of Prime Minister I.Šimonytė and the majority of the Seimas (good will? ), – said the Lithuanian diplomat, signatory to the Act of Restoration of the Independent State Januška.

A. Januška – 1993-1998 served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1998-2003. He was an advisor to President Valdas Adamkus on matters of national security, and was called the gray cardinal of Lithuanian politics and the leader of the “statesmen”. As the signatory Rimvydas Valatka has believed, “During the first presidency of V. Adamkus, Januška was a much more influential person in the state than the Prime Minister.”

In his Facebook account on the social network, A. Januška warned that the Presidency interfered in the formation of the Government and possibly exceeded the powers granted to the President by the Constitution.

“It is obvious that the ministers were offered vice ministers, possibly as a condition for the appointment of the minister, that is, the Presidency intervened in the formation of the Government. The president says that was not the case. That means you don’t know what the counselors are doing. It is only necessary that the majority of the Seimas create a parliamentary commission of inquiry on this issue, to find out who lied, and the Presidency would have serious constitutional difficulties.
The president has announced in advance that he will not appoint several ministers. The Constitutional Court has clarified that the president does not have that power. It is attributed only to the possibilities of political influence, not legal, constitutional – not to approve part of the Government (because it can destroy the coalition and affect the composition of the majority), ”he wrote.

As A. Januška pointed out, the president fell into the trap created by the presidency and faced a confrontation with the ruling majority in the Seimas. And, according to him, this may prevent G. Nausėda from implementing his vision of the welfare state.

Instead of consulting and cooperating with the coalition with the majority of the Seimas, the presidency has opted for the path of confrontation and public humiliation of the banal comments of the candidates for ministers.

The presidency is pushing the president into conflict with the conservatives, a shortsighted and amateurish policy that is detrimental to the state and the president. “What can help the president to better implement his welfare state policy is if the acting prime minister or the presidency is not clear about the interests proposed by the vice ministers,” he shared in a Facebook message.

According to A. Januška, everything currently depends solely on I. Šimonytė.

“If the Prime Minister does not provide another list, the President will have to approve the one presented. It all depends on the Prime Minister’s decision today.
And it will probably depend on what arguments the president will raise against the candidates for ministers, what will be the quality of the impact of the political process, ”Delfi commented on the situation.

The constitutional crisis and the victims of public opinion

The MEP, former Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, when evaluating the attitude of G. Nausėda in the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers, assured that the preliminary statements of the president that he would not agree with a complete list of candidates for ministers were a surrender. to public pressure.

“There is an opinion in Lithuania that the president has a” duty “to” expel “at least 2 or 3 candidates for minister from the list of the future government presented by the prime minister. Presidents have become” victims “of this. public opinion for fear of doing so because they would be seen as “weak” presidents. However, succumbing to the pressure of this supposed public opinion, at the risk of even provoking a constitutional crisis, is precisely the sign of the “weakness” of the president’s character “explained A. Kubilius.

However, A. Kubilius emphasized that the head of state should not be based on public opinion, the practices of previous heads of state or the comments of political scientists, but on the Constitution. “A constitutional crisis can only be avoided when all the authorities involved in the formation of the Government realize that they have a constitutional duty and responsibility not to violate the Constitution. Observing the behavior of the President in recent days, it is questionable that such responsibility is properly understood in the Presidency. And this is dangerous, both for the state and for the president himself, “wrote A. Kubilius.

Showing power would be detrimental to Lithuania

Vytautas Sinkevičius, professor at the Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), expert in constitutional law, speaking with the portal delfi.lt He stressed that the arguments made by the Head of State regarding the suitability or inadequacy of the ministers were not constitutionally founded.

“I don’t think the arguments he’s making so far – lack of competence, lack of leadership experience, are constitutionally justified.” These are arguments in favor of power. The minister is a political position, the task of the president is not to let a person who is not fully prepared for that job. For example, he only has a secondary education, he does not understand anything at all. There are people who are in politics but basically they are zero. That such people should not be converted. And when you say that a candidate has made a good impression but has no vision, what does that mean? The candidate must not have any vision and must carry out the program of the Government, not of the President, ”said V. Sinkevičius.

The professor stressed that before December 10. The government must form, prepare and present itself to the Seimas. Therefore, the demonstration of the political power of the president by delaying the approval of the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers would be detrimental to Lithuania.

“Basically I. Šimonytė has no time. In other words, he will be forced to live off the very poor draft budget left by the previous government. That delay will affect Lithuania, it will respond to the public,” said the MRU professor.