"I have said this before and I can repeat it again: making major changes to the government six months before election may have a damaging effect on the state, therefore, I see no other solution than holding early elections this summer," she said in an announcement communicated by her adviser Dalius Stancikas to BNS.
Degutienė spoke after President Dalia Grybauskaitė rejected the proposal from Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius to sack Interior Minister Raimundas Palaitis on Monday.
"As the speaker of the Seimas, I am alarmed that the decision will make the spring session stray away from discussing and adopting strategic laws, but focusinf instead on interpretations and chaos in the Seimas," Degutienė said.
The president who left the prime minister in his post against the prime minister's will said that the government should decide for itself whether it wants to continue working.
"I will not take part in pre-election disputes among coalition partners," she said.
Grybauskaitė expressed a belief that the ruling coalition and the government should stay in power until the end of the term.
"In my opinion, the coalition and the government is capable of working until the end of this term and should do so. Merely seven months are left. It is up to them to answer whether they want to work together. If they are incapable of this, they should solve the dispute by political means at the parliament. Considering the circumstances in this dispute among the coalition partners, I do not support any of them," she stated.
Last Tuesday, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius submitted a proposal to the president to sack the interior minister, saying he had made a mistake by firing two top officers of the Financial Crimes Investigation Service.
Palaitis dismissed the two top leaders of the Financial Crime Investigation Service, Vitalijus Gailius and Vytautas Giržadas, on 15 February, after a recommendation from the State Security Department. The department was investigating possible leak of information about Snoras bank shortly before its nationalization.
The parliamentary Anti-Corruption Commission also carried an investigation into the move and ruled that the minister could have had personal or party reasons to have Gailius and Giržadas out of the service. Palaitis has denied the suspicions.
In Lithuania, ministers are appointed and dismissed by the president upon proposal from the prime minister.
Unhelpful
Lithuania's Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius says that the president's decision to leave embattled Interior Minister Raimundas Palaitis in his post would not help the government's work.
"The decision will not help the work of the coalition and the government but we feel responsible before the voters, in the first place," Kubilius told journalists on Monday.
Asked to comment Parliamentary Speaker Irena Degutiene's move to call for early general election, the prime minister said: "The Seimas may decide this way."
Lithuania's Constitution suggests that early general election can be held on the parliament's decision adopted by 3/5 of the vote, i.e., 85 members of the 141-seat Lithuanian Parliament.
Early elections can also be called by the president, should the parliament fail to decide on a new governmental program within 30 days after proposition or, within 60 days after the first program proposition, reject it in two consecutive votes. The government can also call early election, if the parliament gives a direct no-confidence vote in the Cabinet.
A Seimas resolution or the president's act on early elections specifies a date of new election, which must be held within three months after the decision on early election is made.
Voice of the opposition
After Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė refused to sack Interior Minister Raimundas Palaitis, the ruling bloc should either agree and work together in spite of everything or the government should check its credibility at the parliament, parliamentary opposition leader Algirdas Butkevičius says.
"The ruling majority should show whether it is capable of working, drafting and adopting bills or not. Then it should verify its credibility at the Seimas," Butkevičius, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, told BNS on Monday.
He also confirmed the Social Democrats supported Parliamentary Speaker Irena Degutienė's proposal to hold early general election in summer.
The regular election is scheduled for October.
Trust in government
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė's decision to reject the proposal from Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius to dismiss Minister of Interior Affairs Raimundas Palaitis raises doubts as to whether she has trust in this government, Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) Irena Degutienė said.
"I really regret the president's decision which increases political tensions and raises doubts whether she trusts this government." Degutienė told journalists on Monday, adding that she saw no other solution but to hold early general elections.
"Following this decision, for me, speaker of the Seimas, it's clear that taking into account the work and bills that are submitted for the spring session, there will be no responsible work. There will be interpellations and complete chaos in the parliament and in the public. I therefore believe this Seimas has no other solution but to voluntarily submit a proposal for early general elections," the speaker said.
"I see no opportunities for the work in the parliament to be collaborative," Degutienė said, adding that she would, first of all, try to convince the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats party of the need to hold early general elections.
"I will, first of all, try to convince the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats party and political group that such a decision would be timely and necessary, I once again underline, for the parliamentary work and political stability for the sake of the state," Degutienė said.
"I will not take part in pre-election disputes among coalition partners," she said.
Focus on work
The Liberal and Center Union of Lithuania has doubts whether the conservatives will manage to focus on work and stop setting conditions, threatening Minister of Interior Affairs Raimundas Palaitis with interpellation and dismissal, the party's leader, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, Algis Čaplikas, said on Monday.
In his words, President Dalia Grybauskaitė confirmed earlier on Monday that the incumbent ruling coalition and the government still has her support on strategic projects and must complete their work.
"We have to work despite the conflict that our partners, conservatives, unfortunately, got all Lithuanian people, and even the president, dragged into. The other question is whether we'll manage to continue working together. The Liberal and Center Union has serious doubts as to whether the conservatives will manage to focus on work and stop setting conditions, threatening the interior minister with interpellation and dismissal," Čaplikas told BNS.
He proposed that the government should continue working and focusing on three most important tasks, including the Sodra (Social Insurance Fund) reform, the construction of a new nuclear power plant, and the construction of an LNG terminal.
"If the conservatives continue escalating the conflict, it will be clear that it's an attempt to shift the focus from the main question: what the main ruling party has done during its term and what has specifically been achieved in the negotiations on Lithuania's energy future," the leader of the liberal centrists said.
Čaplikas believes the conservatives are afraid of the energy test.
"This is reflected in some politicians' statements that one can end the conflict only by holding early general elections," the politician said, adding that early general elections would mean evading responsibility.
One side only
Chairman of the Lithuanian parliamentary Anti-Corruption Commission, Ligitas Kernagis, said on Monday he was surprised at President Dalia Grybauskaitė's decision to reject Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius' proposal to dismiss Minister of Interior Affairs Raimundas Palaitis after, he said, "hearing one side only."
"I was surprised that the president had heard only one side – chairman of the Liberal and Center Union, Algis Čaplikas, and the minister himself, and had not heard either representatives of the Anti-Corruption Commission or the dismissed officials. It's strange that such a categorical decision is made after listening to one side only," Kernagis told BNS.
He also said he had no doubt that members of the Anti-Corruption Commission, that has offered conclusions proposing to dismiss Palaitis, would sign an interpellation against the minister. Kernagis said he did not plan to initiate an interpellation as he was sure the interpellation text would be ready by the time he returned to Vilnius. "The interpellation text will most probably be ready by the time I come to Vilnius," Kernagis, currently on a visit to Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania, said.
