Artūras Paulauskas, Labour MP who has worked as prosecutor general and parliamentary speaker in the past, is proposed for the post.
"I see no problem here. (...) Paulauskas is not on trial. He is a professional," Gedvilas told Žinių Radijas news radio on Wednesday morning.
"There are procedures, nothing depends on Paulauskas alone or any other member of the Labour Party alone. There is no need to search for problems where they don't exist," said the parliamentary speaker when asked whether the proposal could influence the parliamentary vote on lifting legal immunity of Labour MPs Viktor Uspaskich, Vytautas Gapšys, and Vitalija Vonzutaitė who stand charges of fraudulent bookkeeping.
Furthermore, Gapšys will also work in the Committee for Law.
In Gedvilas' words, Gapšys and Paulauskas will only have two votes in the committee where decisions are made by the majority. Gedvilas emphasized they were both professional lawyers.
The Labour Party and the related individuals are charged with fraud. Prosecutors say the Labour Party's financial documentation for the 2004-2006 period failed to include about 25 million litas (EUR 7.3m) in income and about 23 million litas in spending related with property, commitments, and structural changes, and also failed to pay taxes of around 4 million litas.
The State Tax Inspectorate has also filed a suit in the case, as it has not received more than 3 million litas in taxes and fees, as well as by the Vilnius branch of the state-run social insurance fund Sodra over the damages caused by refusal to pay more than 855,000 litas in insurance fees.
Uspaskich strongly denies all charges.
