The theoretical possibility of ending the powers of A. Guoga without his participation is

Theoretically, this may be simpler than terminating the term at the CEC meeting, because according to Vytautas Sinkevičius, a professor in the Department of Constitutional Law at Mykolas Romeris University, a member of the Seimas could present his explanations at a distance.

When requesting the termination of his term in the way that A. Guoga wants, the parliamentarian must appear at the meeting of the CEC and say so himself, with free will.

As the politician, who had worked at the Seimas only for a couple of months but wanted to resign, did not appear before commissioners on Thursday, his powers have not been revoked.

The politician offered to attend the meeting remotely and reported that he would only be able to attend after March 9.

However, as stated by CEC Chair Laura Matjošaitytė, the law stipulates that the parliamentarian must read the statement in session.

In addition, the Commission must make a decision within 15 days of receiving such request.

“The Seimas Elections Law establishes that the powers of attorney end with the resignation of a member of the Seimas in accordance with his request to resign. This statement must be repeated by the member of the Seimas in the committee session. We have a statement, but not a strong statement, “said the head of the CEC.

A.Guoga submitted the request for termination of the powers of his Seimas member to the CEC on January 12.

He explained that there were no longer opportunities to implement the electoral promises with the Labor Party with which he participated in the elections.

Artūras Skardžius must take his place in the Seimas, which is first on the list of candidates after the script.

A.Guoga has informed the Seimas Board that he will travel abroad as of Wednesday.

A parliamentarian may not be able to attend a CEC meeting because he is in Dubai; his wife is on a social network announced a vacation there.

Even without a decision from the CEC, the Canadian company Cypherpunk Holdings icirculated a messagethat A.Guoga returned to the position of head of the company.

The parliamentarian himself 15 minutes declared your activities in the company indefinitely suspended before taking the oath at the Seimas and presented the internal minutes of the meeting of company representatives, in which it is stated that “Tony Guoga has submitted a request not to work indefinitely as of November 11.”

According to V. Sinkevičius, an expert in constitutional law, this is not enough, although the activities have been suspended, the functions have not been fulfilled, they have been maintained, precisely this is prohibited and there is a risk of impeachment.

The Constitution establishesthat “the duties of a member of the Seimas, except his duties in the Seimas, are incompatible with any other duty in state institutions and organizations, as well as with work in business, commerce and other private institutions or companies.”

However, in the words of V. Sinkevičius, in this case “it is not the prosecution that is necessary, but the application of a completely different point of the Constitution”. The Basic Law of the State also declares that the powers of a member of the Seimas end when, among other things, he or she “moves to work or does not refuse a job that is incompatible with the obligations of a member of the Seimas”. .

In other words, a parliamentarian can only hold one position and have no other job or position.

“That is, if it turns out that he is performing another job, occupies a position, did not respond to them, the Seimas Ethics and Procedures Committee must carry out an investigation and prepare a draft resolution to terminate the mandate of a member of the Seimas “. 15 minutes the lawyer explained. –

The Seimas can terminate the powers without preparing an indictment, but simply by voting, adopting a resolution to terminate the powers, because they have not given up a job that a member of the Seimas cannot work.

A resolution will be adopted to end the term of a parliamentarian if more than half of all Seimas members vote in favor, at least 71.

It is true that in this case the participation of A. Guoga is also required:

“A person must be heard, he must have the right to be heard. It may turn out that the situation is completely different. Without listening to the person, without inviting him to a session of the committee or the Seimas, where the vote is carried out, it is not possible to end the powers ”, emphasized the interlocutor.

Asked if in this case it is also necessary for the politician himself to attend the meeting, if it can be done remotely during the pandemic or to give explanations in writing, V. Sinkevičius stated:

“If you say you are going to send explanations remotely, and that suits you, then yes, I don’t see a problem here. But he must be heard in all cases, he has the right to present explanations, evidence, refutations, he has the right to defend himself ”.

Admittedly, such an investigation and vote is hardly possible at this time, because the Seimas has already concluded its fall session, and the spring session will not begin until March 10. To solve the problem of A.Guoga, an extraordinary session must be convened as a matter of urgency.