Lithuanian president wishes Peasant & Greens to form transparent, responsible coalition

  • 2016-10-24
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite has expressed her hope that the Peasant and Green Union, which triumphed in the parliamentary elections, establishes an honest and responsible ruling coalition.

“The ruling coalition should be formed by the clear winner as we have. I wish them to form a transparent and responsible majority, which would have a new and high-quality stance on state governance, transparency, and accountability of state governance," Grybauskaite said at the President's Office today.

She voiced her wish for the new parliament, the new government, and the President's Office to work together in a co-operative and efficient manner.

According to Grybauskaite, the results of the parliamentary elections will significantly alter Lithuania's political map, and the core of the changes will come with time as the new ruling majority demonstrates it.

The president declined to specify which ruling coalition would best suit Lithuania: "This is not something I can guess."

"No artificial coalition survives for long, as we know from time and our historic experience. The winning parties must agree themselves, take the responsibility for state governance, and this is the only type of coalition than can last for the whole term," she stated.

Grybauskaite met earlier in the day with the leaders of the Peasant and Green Union and of the conservative the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, the runner-up in the elections.

Grybauskaite told the press that the Peasants and Greens had displayed openness and readiness to discuss a candidate to be the nation’s next prime minister.

"This will happen in the future, but there is a positive attitude and I expect that, depending on what coalition is formed, we will discuss together what prime minister would be best for Lithuania," she said.

Grybauskaite noted that she as the president had greater powers to sway the appointment of ministers, vowing to demand transparency, responsibility, and professionalism from the new cabinet.

"This is what I can demand under the Constitution," she stated.

The Peasant and Green Union earned 56 seats in the 141-member Seimas. The Homeland Union came in second with 31 seats. The Social Democratic Party, the largest party in the outgoing Seimas, only reached third place with 17 seats, and the Liberal Movement finished fourth with 14 seats.