"Board members expressed dissatisfaction over not only the progress of the talks but also over achieved results, and there was a decision made to propose to the party's council to stop talks with the Labor Party," MEP Rolandas Paksas, leader of the Order and Justice party, told journalists after the board meeting on Wednesday night.
In his words, the party decided to start preparations for the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament next year.
"We cannot wait any longer. We cannot stand in place any longer. We have to represent our voters, solve problems," Paksas said, adding that the final decision should be made by the party's council which is scheduled to meet shortly.
Talking about the reasons behind the party's decision to stop merger talks with the Labor Party, Paksas says that the original results have not been achieved, there's no visible wish on the Labor Party's part to merge, the process is lagging behind the schedule and there's a wish to change the original agreement.
The merger talks might be resumed after a serious proposal from the Labor Party is received, Paksas said.
Viktor Uspaskich, deputy chairman of the Labor Party, told BNS that his party would show initiative for the merger talks to be resumed.
"We will show such initiative. We are in favor of the party merger," he said.
The two parties announced merger plans in February. But the Labor Party merged with the Laborist Party in late April.
Currently, the Order and Justice party has 10 seats in the Lithuanian parliament, and the Labor Party has 29.
