The tensions between the ruling party and the presidency are already evident: experts see different reasons

He argues that conservatives seek to isolate the presidency from domestic political decisions.

How Delphi said Professor Šarūnas Liekis from Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), a negative image of the presidency is forming in the public space.

“There is a tendency to criticize the president and it is encouraged enough,” said the professor.

According to him, G. Nausėda is in some cases criticized for certain activities that have been started in practice before. For example, for the president’s participation in the European Council.

“For some reason, the Conservatives and everyone else, when Grybauskaitė’s presence was not in doubt, there were no obstacles, now they suddenly need this situation,” Š said. Liekis.

According to the VMU professor, the tension of the Unión Patria in relations with the presidency can now also be seen by the fact that G. Nausėda does not represent the right wing.

“It is obvious that Grybauskaitė was associated with the Conservative Party, it was its main supporter in parliament with which it debated, it was that center-right bloc, it did not associate with the left. The current president was elected by center-left votes, ”said the political scientist.

Š. Liekis also pointed out that, according to him, the president also did not have a common line with the peasant government.

“Both sides often intersected and did not follow the common line with the center-left coalition. Sometimes there were better relations, sometimes worse. In the current situation, it has found itself in political isolation,” said the professor.

According to Š. The ruling conservatives themselves seek to isolate the presidency from the field of domestic politics.

“If you want to be successful in your second term, you must break that political isolation; this is only possible by talking and coordinating your actions with the center-left opposition”, Š. Liekis.

“The current rulers will obviously try to eliminate the president as an institutional obstacle to their governance,” said the expert.

At the same time, he highlighted the lack of opposition activity in this place.

“The opposition still does not criticize, it does not attack, it is waiting 100 days. Everyone is calm, some political scientists and journalists criticize and say, but otherwise the opposition itself is sitting quietly in quarantine, without working, “said the VMU professor.

He sees the situation differently: Nausėda is only engaged in public relations

For his part, Virgis Valentinavičius, an associate professor at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), sees the relationship between the ruling conservatives and the presidency differently.

According to him, the head of the country, G. Nausėda, began to take an active interest in managing the pandemic only when TS-LKD came to power.

“The relationship between the presidency and the governors is fundamentally different from that of the former ruling majority. The president is actively trying to intervene and dictate to the executive what to do to handle the pandemic, even though this government is handling the pandemic incomparably with more successful than before. ” Delphi said the political scientist.

According to V. Valentinavičius, the communication of the members of the presidential team with the ministries also raises doubts.

“The great interest in managing a pandemic has in fact turned into a permanent and systematic interference in the executive. It is not entirely clear how effectively they intervene in these activities. In the sense of the constitution, it is very It is ambiguous if the advisers require the ministries to comply with orders when they are not constitutionally qualified to give a mandate, only the Prime Minister can do so ”, emphasized the associate professor of the MRU.

He gave the example of the presidency asking the Ministry of Health (SAM) to present a vaccination plan, in line with Mr. Nausėda’s ambitious goal of vaccinating 70% by mid-summer. population of the country.

“Thank God, the Ministry of Health ignored the president’s adviser and presented a plan for how we would be vaccinated, based on the vaccines available, because the government must follow reality and not act by paraphrasing the” Knowledge of the bicycle “, despite of the resistance of reality “, Valentinavičius. said.

“The president is trying to go where he does not belong according to the Constitution, but where he sees great benefits of propaganda for him. It seems that Nausėda is characterized by that, he has a greater problem in managing the preparation of elections than in managing of the pandemic ”, concluded the MRU associate professor.

Appreciated exceptional attention to dust

During the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers headed by Šimonytė, President G. Nausėda publicly declared that he would pay special attention to the post of Minister of Health. Later, he was repeatedly skeptical of Arūnas Dulkis, who was still a candidate for the post of Minister at the time.

According to V. Valentinavičius, the presidency had a preconceived negative attitude towards A. Dulkis.

“The president did not hide his negative opinion about the minister before his appointment, he did not hide his negative opinion and said that he would monitor him closely, I understand that it is to my displeasure. I do not know why, there was a negative preconception for the administration of A Dulkis ”, emphasized the associate professor of MRU.

According to V. Valentinavičius, meanwhile, former minister Aurelijus Veryga was evaluated by the presidency much better even in controversial situations.

“I have not heard that G. Nausėda would be at least a little more critical of former minister A. Veryga. When the question was raised in the spring that Veryga needed to be changed, that he was not getting better, (…) Nausėda then said that “It is not possible to change horses in the pool.” The attitude towards Mr. Veryga was inexplicably positive, despite the fact that he lied about the tests, the security measures, and in the end there were scandals about public contracting and those young people who earned 3,000 each one commissions from those purchases. All of this went almost unnoticed “, recalls V. Valentinavičius.

However, VMU Professor Š. Liekis took a different view. According to him, the criticisms of the head of state of A. Dulkis are not without foundation.

“There is reasonable pressure, which is based on the fact that it is obvious that a person is not a doctor who comes to this place, faces many problems that he does not control, and a lack of managerial skills – for example, the whole story with Petraitis (head of NVSC – aut. .p.), where he explained in public for two weeks. This is an abnormal situation, no manager does that, “emphasized Š. Liekis.

In his view, Mr. Veryga has also been criticized, including, as the policy expert emphasized, on a broader range of issues.

“There were many obstacles on ‘all fronts’. From the smoking and alcohol restrictions, that line operated – he was the guardian of the peasant front, who had to endure many ideological things pushed by the peasants. (…) I don’t see that Nausėda forgive him more, because the general tone was this: Veryga was attacked, ”said the professor.

The causes of voltage are complex

When talking about the causes of the tensions between the rulers, the two experts interviewed by Delphi said that they are diverse.

According to Š. By surviving, all politicians strive to be popular.

“There is a fight all the time, what is better, what is more beautiful. There is an institutional struggle between the President and the Government, the tensions are always there. Everyone tells what is most popular, beloved. Everyone reacts to opinion, after all, people are offensive. This struggle has its roots in the past and has its origin on the ideological side, ”he said.

According to the VMU professor, G. Nausėda and the rulers have different views and values.

“President Nausėda does not represent the conservative electorate or their ideology. Apparently, the main reason and mutual consensus would probably be difficult to come here, because in terms of values ​​they have different approaches to life, politics and reality that we see ”Said Š. Liekis.

Meanwhile, V. Valentinavičius stated that it is difficult for the country’s leader to rise to the “presidential strategic level”.

“I think that in part these electoral confrontations play a role – Šimonytė is still perceived as a competitor and the conservatives not as the party, (…) but that is a partial reason. The bigger and, in my head, more serious reason is that Nausėda just has a hard time understanding the place of the president in this state, ”said the MRU associate professor.

At the same time, he highlighted the lack of experience of young ministers working in the government.

“Young ministers who can be humanly understood swear by the president because he sees what he is doing with ministers. The stories of Linkevičius, Karoblis, Misiūnas, different approaches to Veryga and Dulkis – Nausėda defends the very principle “I value ministers as I want, without any explanation”. The ministers may fear that it will be very difficult to please the president, and that does not help the job either, ”said V. Valentinavičius.

The government should communicate more actively

Š. Liekis, when evaluating the relationship between the ruling majority and the president, also noted that the previous government was more active in communicating the management of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Every day at the press conferences, the Prime Minister himself attended to some extent, always the Minister of Health, a spokesman who specializes, explains the situation in detail. At that time, there were between 30 and 40 patients in all of Lithuania. Compare communication now, there is no communication ”, concluded the political scientist.

According to him, the Cabinet of Ministers headed by I. Šimonytė lacks activity in the sense of communication.

“Because it affects everyone, it is a matter of public good, it is very important: do it first, then communicate. Sometimes perhaps there is nothing to communicate, because nothing is done … It is a matter of a common strategy, this activity does not you can see it ”, Š. Liekis.

For his part, MRU associate professor V. Valentinavičius also acknowledged that the government needs to speak more actively, because the public is lost when the authorities communicate differently.

“It’s obvious that people get lost when these things are different. I don’t expect Nausėda to change in any way because it’s hard to rationally imagine this. This problem can only be solved if the Government takes the initiative, speaks more clearly and takes all the communication of the pandemic ”, said V. Valentinavičius.

Predicts growing tensions and threats to coalition strength

V. Valentinavičius also did not hide his belief that the tension at the highest level of government will increase, because up to now, according to him, the Prime Minister and the ruling people have been very patient with the President.

“So far, the new majority and the prime minister are very polite and patient. They do not allow themselves to speak like Skvernelis, but I suspect that the tension is really building due to such an obstacle to working on very important issues,” added V. Valentinavičius.

Š. Liekis also noted that tensions will continue to be felt, which, he said, could affect the strength of the ruling coalition.

“Undoubtedly, the tension will only increase, because the opposition will be actively involved in the struggle, the government will be criticized, an attempt will be made to defend itself from such criticism and maximum control will be made over those institutions so that more or less all the authorities speak with a side, “he added. Liekis.