Linas Jegelevičius for the BNN
Talks about a reshuffle of the conservative-liberal Lithuanian Cabinet have resurged again – loudly and convincingly. Moreover, some analysts say that, with the Covid-19 relenting to less contagious forms and with the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border handled for now, they will flesh out this time. Is a shake-up of the government inevitable?
Dainius Kepenis, an opposition MP, told BNN the Lithuanian cabinet «is deeply in mess». «They barely know what they are doing and mumbling about the crises, suggesting that no other Cabinet could cope with them,» the Lithuanian parliamentarian said.
If it was up to him, the MP, first of all, would unseat the Interior, Transport, Health and the Economy and Innovation ministers.
Last in the line of vociferous callers for change in the Cabinet stands Saulius Skvernelis, an opposition MP, a former Prime Minister in the Farmers and Greens Union (LFGU) -led Cabinet during 2016-2020 and, since late January, chairman of the newly-founded party, the Democratic Union «For Lithuania». Last week, he exhorted the Cabinet to «bravely» embrace a reshuffle, claiming that some of the Cabinet members have «fizzled out» and furthermore – they have never been sizzling and, thence, no «breakthrough» from them can be expected.
Skvernelis spoke about the need for change in the Cabinet after his fraction’s meeting with the country’s Transport minister Marius Skuodis, who, in December, barely survived a scandal over the continuation of transportation of Belarusian fertilizers across Lithuania to the seaport of Klaipėda for a shipping out to more than 150 destinations worldwide.
Two Lithuanian ministers, transport minister Marius Skuodis and foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis kept their portfolios, reeling off from a substantial damage to their reputation. Besides the two, Health minister Arūnas Dulkys, Interior minister Agnė Bilotaitė and Economy and Innovation minister Aušrinė Armonaitė are believed to be the weakest links in the chain.
Read also: Week in Lithuania: Constitutional Court drops Covid-19 certificate case, Achema workers go on strike
However, resignation of Landsbergis, who is excoriated by many for the ugly deterioration of relations with China over his decision to allow Taiwan to open its representative office in Vilnius last November – not under the name of Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, like elsewhere, but including the name of the island, Taiwan, in it is very unlikely due to his being chairman of the main ruling Coalition party, the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD).
Left unsatisfied with the Transport minister’s answers, instead of demanding Skuodis’ resignation again, Skvernelis says the issue of replacement of certain ministers have long «overmatured».
«Time has come to talk of recharging the entire Cabinet, not just single ministries. Both the prime minister (Ingrida Šimonytė, delegated to the post by the ruling HU-LCD) and the parliamentary majority have been delaying it for too long,» chairman of the Democratic Union «For Lithuania» said.
Asked to opine what was the reason behind the procrastination, Skvernelis shunned a direct reply, reasoning that the Cabinet may be waiting for «certain signals» (it remains unclear where they would come from – L. J.) or for a war, a hint to the escalation on the Ukrainian borders.
The former prime minister says it is ‘hard’ to expect a recharging of the Cabinet, considering that chairs of the ruling parties (HU-LCD, Liberal Movement and Freedom Party), in his words, keep mouths shut after meeting each other in the Parliament, Seimas. Until now, PM Šimonytė was ferociously staving off demands to roll some of the ministerial heads off.
She has been arguing throughout that it would be very irresponsible to shake up the Cabinet with the country grappling with two major crises, the Covid-19 pandemic and the migrant crisis.
Some analysts insist the premier is fretting over any resignation of her ministers, as a single stepping-down could trigger collapse of the entire government. Some other say the tactics is short-sighted, as the delay with a shake-up of the Cabinet will likely amass a slew of problems, which, sooner or later, will derail if not the entire Cabinet than some weakest ministers for sure.
Skvernelis is far from being a single stand-out politician urging a wide reshuffle of the Government.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, chairwoman of Seimas, the Lithuanian parliament, and leader of the ruling Liberal Movement, has said that it would be «exception» if the Cabinet managed to stay intact until the end of its term. However, she cautions that the time Lithuania finds itself in is not «suitable» for a change.
«Lithuania needs to constantly look and react to the tense geopolitical situation and the Covid-19 pandemic has not yet ended,» she cited reasons why the Conservative-liberal Cabinet has to be allowed to continue its work.
Meanwhile, her fellow party member, Eugenijus Gentvilas, believes that the ruling Coalition has already ‘missed’ its chance to refresh the Cabinet.
«It had to be done when the Belaruskali fertilizer scandal broke out and when the two ministers (Marius Skuodis and Gabrielius Landsbergis) submitted their resignation letters,» he insists.
In his words, it appeared in the wake of the scandal that the Transport Minister had not done a lot.
«In my opinion, PM Šimonytė hastened to exonerate the minister…Instead of using the chance to spill some political blood, she covered up the minister and, speaking illustratively, took all the punches herself. But the public was not fooled – we see extremely low support of the minister,» Gentvilas told Lithuanian media.
But Skuodis is believed to be enjoying support of President Gitanas Nauseda – the head-of-state nodded to his candidature as the minister after culling the Freedom party’s candidate, Kasparas Adomaitis.
Gentvilas has also scolded the senior ruling Coalition partner, HU-LCD, for not consulting junior Coalition partners, the Liberal Movement and Freedom Party, on most important issues of foreign policy, including the decision to allow Taiwan to name its Vilnius office in a way totally unacceptable to Beijing.
Lithuania has to change the name of the Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius in all languages if it wants to normalise its relations with Beijing, Qu Baihua, China’s acting chargé d’affaires in Lithuania, has said this week. According to Baihua, the Taiwanese office in Vilnius could use the name of Taipei, as is done elsewhere in the world.
As reported by BNN, the Lithuanian government’s approval ratings have hit record lows this month, according to the latest poll by Vilmorus. The poll, published by the daily Lietuvos Rytas on February 1, shows the share of respondents who say they trust the government fall to 17.3 percent in December, from 21 percent in November, and those who distrust rise to 47.8 percent, from 39.6 percent in the previous month.
BNN ANALYSES | Will talks about a reshuffle of Lithuanian Cabinet finally flesh out?
