Mindaugas Puidokas: the president of the Seimas Education and Science Committee, A.Žukauskas, deserves impeachment – Respublika.lt

Member of Seimas Mindaugas Puidokas, President of the Seimas Committee for Education and Science Artūras Žukauskas. Photo of Elta

The Seimas Labor Party faction of the Republic of Lithuania has already appealed to the Seimas Ethics and Procedures Commission for the inappropriate rhetoric of this Seimas member. I will remember the phrase that this parliamentarian said at the meeting of the Education and Science Commission on February 17 of this year and became the last straw when observing how a member of the Seimas allows himself to behave: “We are not going to invite everyone. I do not promise to invite people who shout that the Istanbul Convention cannot be passed, who do not like the fact that there is something about gender somewhere. Talking to these people is the same as talking to flat-earth supporters. “

A.Žukauskas “explained” in this way of his election why representatives of all public organizations are not invited to the committee meeting scheduled for February 24, where the issue of the Health Program, Sexuality Education and Family Training.

With this statement, a member of the Seimas discredits his name and status as a person elected by the citizens of the State as a member of the Seimas, for which he deserves not only consideration in the Ethics and Procedures Commission, but also a political trial, as he said. He seriously violated the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. He also abused his official position by selecting organizations that could attend the meeting based on their views on the issues at stake.

I also agree with the position expressed by the Lithuanian Parents’ Forum: “Such conduct of a member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania is unethical and incompatible with the status of a member of the Seimas, especially the chairman of the Seimas committee. .. “

By the way, this rebound is not a unique phenomenon. As Ieva Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė, member of the Education Committee, said: “This is the constant behavior of A. Žukauskas, repeated for the first time. The committee chair is only the person who moderates the meetings and cannot comment on the dissenters or express his personal views on their statements. As the president of the committee did not take into account the statements of the members of the committee and this behavior continues to be repeated, we decided to contact the Ethics Committee ”.

A member of the Seimas allowed himself to be discriminated against by people who did not conform to his personal beliefs or his position on the issues provided for his consideration. We live in a country that operates according to the principles of democracy, where the main law is the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.

I remember what Seimas member A.Žukauskas, if he knew, obviously managed to forget:

Article 25 of the Constitution establishes: “A person has the right to have their beliefs and to express them freely. Man should not be prevented from seeking, receiving and disseminating information and ideas. Freedom of expression, access to information and dissemination of information shall not be restricted except by law to the extent necessary to protect human health, honor and dignity, privacy, morality or constitutional order. “

Article 26 of the Constitution establishes: “Freedom of thought, belief and conscience is unrestricted. Parents and guardians will be free to take care of the religious and moral education of their children and wards in accordance with their convictions. “

Article 29 of the Constitution recalls: “All persons are equal before the law, the courts and other institutions or state officials. Human rights will not be restricted or privileged for reasons of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, social condition, religion, beliefs or opinions “.

It is obvious that we have a situation where these three articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania have been seriously violated and this creates a dangerous precedent when our state seeks to prevent free expression and diversity of opinions of the people. It is reminiscent of Soviet totalitarian behavior rather than democratic and promotes a culture of intimidation demonstrated by a high-ranking member of the Seimas. In my opinion, such actions of A. Žukauskas are contrary to the basic law of our country, so they should be stopped and evaluated accordingly.

We cannot tolerate the flourishing of the culture of bullying anywhere: not in families, not in schools, not in private or state institutions, not even more so (!) In the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania!