"The bill still needs further discussions, it has too many gaps for the minister to put his signature underneath," spokeswoman Dalia Vencevičienė told BNS.
In her words, Birutis of the Labor Party wants the project to be subjected to more discussions at the government's strategic committee. Lithuania has not had a National Minority Law since January 1 2010, when the previous law adopted back in the Soviet era and extended on a temporary basis expired.
Culture Vice-Minister Edvard Trusevič of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania is in charge of drafting the law.
The draft should stipulate provisions on signs in national minority languages in public places and the use of such signs in municipal institutions.
Under preliminary drafts, the proposal was that languages of national minorities could be used in municipalities where 25 percent of the population represent national minorities. The bill has not been made public due to prolonged discussions.
Currently, Polish-speakers make more than 25 percent of residents in districts of Vilnius, Šalčininkai, Švenčionys, and Trakai, while Russian-speakers account for more than 25 percent of the population of Visaginas district.
Prime Minister baffled
Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius says he doesn't know what will be done with the draft Law on National Minorities after the country's Minister of Culture Šarūnas Birutis refused to sign it.
"I don't know. You need to ask the minister who is responsible. This information is new to me today," Butkevičius said on Wednesday, asked whether the issue would be discussed at the ruling parties' Political Council.
According to the prime minister, there are also no plans to discuss the draft law in the Cabinet's Strategic Committee.
