"The Social Democrats believe that the head of state's harsh statements could be justified by the launched presidential election campaign but, feeling responsibility for the country's political stability, the party would like to postpone political debates of such character for at least six months," the party said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The Social Democrats have no doubt that several months would be enough for citizens of our country to make up their minds who to vote for as president for the next term, therefore, there's no need to collect political dividends early," the party said.
On Monday evening, President Grybauskaitė commented that by tolerating Gapšys in the post of deputy speaker of parliament, the ruling center-left coalition is compromising itself and brining shame to the entire state.
"By electing a person charged with a serious crime to the leadership of the Seimas, the Social Democrats took on responsibility for the honor of the party and the state. By tolerating a convicted person in the Seimas leadership following the court ruling, the whole ruling coalition is compromising itself and is brining shame to the state," Daiva Ulbinaitė, an adviser to the Lithuanian president, communicated the president's position to BNS.
Last Friday, Vilnius Regional Court found Labor MPs Viktor Uspaskich, Vytautas Gapšys and Vitalija Vonžutaitė guilty of fraud and fraudulent bookkeeping.
The labor MPs pledge to appeal against the ruling.
