The role of the president in approving ministers: a new format introduced by G. Nausėda and lessons not learned

President G. Nausėda assured that he will actively participate in the formation of the Government as soon as the results of the Seimas elections are clarified.

“I really intend to actively participate in the formation of the Government, but not by improvising and taking ministers out of my pocket, but by listening to the expectations of the parties, the negotiations of the party when ministerial portfolios are shared,” G said after the elections del Seimas and a meeting with the parliamentary leaders of the parties. Nauseda

Given that the president is the commander-in-chief of the state’s armed forces and also deals with key foreign policy issues, it is common to think that he cares more about who will step into the portfolios of national and foreign defense ministers. They are currently offered to the Conservative leader Gabriel Landsberg and Arvydas Anušauskas, a member of the same party, respectively.

It is true, G. Nausėda assured that not only those mentioned, but also other candidacies for the Ministers of Health and Education, Science and Sports will receive exactly the same attention.

“My criteria are very clear to the ministers: experience, political will and the ability to make the necessary changes in the leadership sector within a certain period of time, in this case, the mandate,” the president said previously.

The president has a limited statutory time to assess the suitability of candidates for the ministerial position.

Conservative candidate Monika Navickienė, candidate for culture ministers, member of the Liberal Movement Simonas Kairys, candidate for transport ministers Kasparas Adomaitis, representative of the Freedom Party and candidate for Justice Minister Evelina Dobrovolska, member of the Freedom Party, and have met with the president.

There are 10 more meetings in a row.

She is called to counselors due to lack of time.

Before meeting with G.Nausėda, all candidates discuss their priorities with their advisers. Until now there has been no such format.

“The president has a limited statutory time to evaluate the suitability of the candidates for the ministerial position. Therefore, to know in detail the intentions of the candidates in the most relevant issues in the areas supervised by the ministries, their experience in these areas, the presidential advisers meet with them first. 15 minutes explained the president’s spokesman, Antanas Bubnelis.

According to him, the interview with G. Nausėda’s advisers also helps candidates to prepare for the meeting with the head of the country:

Several ministerial candidates who have already visited the presidency have confirmed that the two visits were different.

Simonas Kairys, representative of the Liberal Movement who is running for the position of Minister of Culture, said that during the meeting with the advisers, the initiative was in their hands, and during the meeting with the head of the country, the latter set the tone.

“We spoke with the advisers in more detail, about my expectations, looking at the problems, their possible solutions and priorities. And in the meeting with His Excellency the President, he was actively interested himself, asking all kinds of questions from various fields, without concentrating On a particular candidate’s plan, how many trouble spots have accumulated in the state anyway, ”said S. Kairys.

The conservative Monika Navickienė, who focused on the portfolio of the Minister of Social Security and Labor, said that the meeting with the advisers was in a more free format, with the President – in a professional way.

“The meeting with the president was really professional, systematic and about priorities. The president was very interested in my position on specific issues, which also turned out to be very important to him. <...>

With consultants, maybe more overview: what areas, what preliminary or long-term work. The conversation was longer, touching on various areas. The president’s advisers also expressed their vision, “said M. Navickienė.

During presidency meetings, these candidates and others were asked about the team they would see alongside them if they were appointed.

The desire of the presidency to influence the formation not only of the cabinet of ministers, but also of the cabinet of vice ministers is not news. President Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected to a second term immediately after the elections. I started looking for dirty vice ministers Y demanded his dismissal.

“In many cases, the problem is not even the ministers, but the vice ministers. Although the president does not directly influence this, the talks will be “, – promised the outgoing head, and then the” black “list of deputy ministers prepared by the Special Investigation Service reached the media.

He hopes that the minister’s ignorance will be compensated

G. Nausėda, who became the head of the country, did not carry out such an audit, but offered at least one minister his help in electing the vice ministers. The presidency hoped that the lack of knowledge of Jaroslav Narkevičius, who had just been appointed to the Transport ministers and did not speak English, would be compensated by his team.

“You have said how you plan to deal with the problem. He will look for strong vice ministers. Here again, as a presidential team, we have promised to help find strong vice ministers who can manage the European dossier well and help solve this minister’s international problems. – Last summer 15 minutes commented Povilas Mačiulis, senior adviser to the president.

Deputy Ministers did not “withdraw” J.Narkevičius in the long run lost the confidence of the president, but the presidency’s focus on the role of the minister’s team has not changed.

“One of the topics discussed in the meetings of the Presidency with the candidates for ministers is the experience of the candidates in the areas supervised by the Ministry. It is important for the president that the leadership of the ministry knows them well. Therefore, if the minister lacks experience in any of the areas supervised by the ministry, other members of the team must have it ”, said A. Bubnelis.

Is the presidency determined to help potential ministers discuss the team this time as well?

There have been no suggestions.

“There have been no suggestions and there could be none: leave something or use it. First, we ask the candidate the question himself: does he have a team? If he doesn’t, do he have a vision for the team? What are you going to invite? your team? This is the most important thing for us, “said G. Nausėda at the press conference.

No wishes of the presidency were heard

15 minutes the ministerial candidates interviewed denied that the presidency had tried to influence their elections.

“No, I did not receive any offer for my team. But the question of what my team will be like, was raised, we talked about the criteria that will be raised for my team, which is professionalism, competition,” said M. Navickienė.

She acknowledged that being a candidate for minister only makes it difficult to form a team: “Until I have a final decision from the president, it is still difficult to say that a team is formed or formed because the people I could see on my team have other job responsibilities. and it takes time. Until there is a final solution, the process is very theoretical. “

S. Kairys did not listen to the wishes of the presidency regarding vice ministers.

“When we discussed the disadvantages of my candidacy in terms of lack of national experience, both parties agreed that a strong team is very important. And no last names were really misspelled or suggested, ”he said.

S.Kairys declined to comment further on the team’s formation.

“It just came to our attention then. But if the status of a ministerial candidate is unethical, there would be no time for me or potential people who could come together to talk about it,” the candidate said.

President G. Nausėda promised to present the decisions on the ministerial candidates on Tuesday, but assured that the list of ministerial candidates presented by Prime Minister-designate Ingrida Šimonytė will not be approved in full.

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