The opposition government’s program was not rewarding: compared to Frankenstein

The farmers of the program are in doubt

Aušrinė Norkienė, leader of the Lithuanian Green and Peasant Union (LVŽS) faction, criticized the program of I. Šimonytė’s government.

“We see a lot of ambitious abstractions. (…) We are concerned that there is no concept of the welfare state in the program ”, explained A. Norkienė the position of the faction al Seimas.

“We wonder how much responsibility will the state take for the welfare of its citizens?” Asked the politician.

A. Norkienė stated that at least 10 essential points could be seen on the show about how the coronavirus pandemic would be handled.

“Tell us to wait, there will be a separate plan for that. It is also surprising that the program names works that were already implemented by the previous government ”, criticized the parliamentarian.

The senior member of the LVŽS faction said restrictions on raising money for children featured in the show were also concerning.

“Does this mean that raising a child’s money will be the last year next?” He lamented.

“The LVŽS faction, being the largest opposition faction, we do not agree to take responsibility for the government’s work for 4 years, we have decided not to support the government’s program,” said A. Norkienė.

The Social Democrats have developed an alternative government program

Gintautas Paluckas, leader of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, said the program lacked integrity and that some parts were prepared by conservatives and others by liberals.

“This government program is presented and examined in a transversal way, it is called eclectic, cacophonic, etc., and it really lacks coherence and integrity. It’s like a Frankenstein stitched together from the attitudes of individual parties, and that can be seen very well, “said G. Paluckas.

He also presented the provisions of an alternative program developed by the Social Democratic Party and called on parliamentarians to join the support of the program, emphasizing the importance of education, equal opportunities for all children, solidarity taxes and the urban green agreement. rural.

The Labor Party will abstain

Vigilijus Jukna, the largest of the Labor Party faction, mentioned the differences between the government program and his party’s electoral program in the Seimas on Friday.

“The regulations of our program are more ambitious, we want more attention and specificity to regional policy, reduction of exclusion, job creation and investment development, increased wages,” said V. Jukna to the problems.

The elder of the Labor Party faction said his faction would abstain from voting on the government’s program.

“If the emerging government takes into account the objectives of the Labor Party program, we are determined to help achieve those objectives. Respecting the will of the voters, the Labor Group, while having different views on some issues, has decided not to hinder its approval. and abstain from voting, “said the politician.

A mixed group of Seimas members had reproaches: they will vote differently

MP Rita Tamašunienė presented the opinion of the mixed group of Seimas members on the Government’s program. According to her, the show was discussed in detail.

“Ambitions on regional policy are lower than what is currently being achieved, but maybe they are only on the agenda,” said R. Tamašunienė.

According to her, the government is expected to pay sufficient attention to energy, social exclusion, poverty reduction and the problems of national minorities.

“This was stated out loud in various interviews, but not all of this is reflected on the show. We hope to find a place in a specific plan (government program implementation – aut.p.) ”, said the politician.

According to her, the parliamentarians of the Joint Group of members of the Seimas “will vote according to their conscience, vision, desire for the new Government.”

“The opinion of 13 members of the Seimas of the mixed group will be different,” said R. Tamašunienė.

The government headed by Prime Minister I. Šimonytė was made up of the center-right political forces: the Lithuanian National Christian Democratic Union (TS-LKD), the Liberal Movement and the Freedom Party.

The representatives of the factions of the party that formed the ruling coalition urged the parliamentarians to vote for the program of this Government, praised the team, welcomed the desire to debate and the work planned for Lithuania.

Discussion of the members of the Seimas

At the beginning of the debate, Tom Tomilin, a member of the Campesino Group, criticized the future government’s program.

“The vast majority of the program’s statements have no ideological weight and would suit any government,” Tomilin said.

He also urged his colleagues to “cool the hot head and enthusiasm of the liberal reformers, not to repeat the mistakes of former Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, to resist the old-fashioned neoliberal ideology.”

Standing on the podium, Seimas member Robertas Šarknickas criticized the field of culture and expressed hope that the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Jurgita Šiugždinienė, sitting at the back of the Seimas, does not mean that education will be high school in the future government program.

He also echoed comments from colleagues that part of the program was “plagiarized” by peasants.

The opposition criticizes

The designated prime minister says that her government will not make revolutions, but will seek solutions based on discussion and knowledge. He promised to initiate a national agreement on education at the beginning of his term.

The new government promises to modernize the economy, reduce social exclusion by improving access to social services, and pay more attention to single retirees and single mothers.

As soon as she receives the mandate, the Prime Minister also promises to immediately call in experts to discuss stricter quarantine measures to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Outgoing Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis says the government’s program lacks ambition and some provisions have been moved from his government’s to-do list.

Opposition Social Democrats say there are many failures in the program, from the tax system to the health sector.

The Seimas will decide whether to approve the program

Once presented, the Government program is reviewed by the Seimas factions and Seimas committees, who have the right to invite the Prime Minister or Minister to answer questions about the Government program at a time agreed with them.

At the latest within 15 days following the presentation, the Seimas will consider the Government’s program in its session.

In this session, the report of the opposition leader of the Seimas, the conclusions of the factions, starting with those of the opposition, and the committees are heard first.

After that, a discussion takes place, at the end of which the Prime Minister is given the floor (up to 20 minutes), as well as the opportunity for him and the ministers to respond again to questions from the Seimas members ( up to 90 minutes).

When the Prime Minister and ministers finish answering questions from the Seimas members, the Seimas must make a decision on the Government’s program. The wording of the decision is established in the conclusions of the commissions and political groups.

The new Government receives the authority to act when the Seimas, by majority vote of the Seimas members present at the session, approves its program. Subsequently, the members of the Government must take the oath in the Seimas in accordance with the procedure established by the Government Law.

If the Government program is not approved or is returned to the Government for improvement, a new version of the Government program must be submitted to Seimas within 10 days and its consideration procedure repeated.

If the Seimas does not approve the newly formed government’s program twice in a row, the government would have to resign.