Lithuanian SocDems don't reveal their new candidate for justice minister

  • 2016-11-28
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - The leadership of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) today approved a new candidate for the position of justice minister in the incoming coalition government, but have yet to disclose his or her identity.

"It was agreed that the name of the candidate approved by the board and the presidium will not be announced to the public, because the candidate still has to go through certain checks," Algirdas Butkevicius, the LSDP leader, told the media after the leadership's meetings.

The candidate will likely be named to the public tomorrow, he added.

Unofficial information indicates that the Social Democrats will propose Julius Pagojus, a former deputy justice minister, as their candidate for the position.

Pagojus, commented that he felt amply experienced to take the job.

"I believe that my four years at the Justice Ministry have given me enough experience," he said.

The 28-year-old lawyer would be the youngest minister in the new government. He worked as an advisor to Justice Minister Juozas Bernatonis between 2012 and 2014 and was appointed deputy justice minister in July 2014.

Darius Petrosius, the Social Democrat's former candidate for justice minister, noted in a statement on Monday morning that he was withdrawing his candidacy in order to protect his family and the incoming government "from slander."

The LSDP board decided this morning to suggest Julius Sabatauskas, chairman of the parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs, for justice minister, but his candidacy was criticised by the SocDems' coalition partners, the Lithuanian Peasant and Green Union.

Ramunas Karbauskis, chairman of the LPGU, and Prime Minister-designate Saulius Skvernelis said that they hoped to see an individual from the younger generation of politicians in the incoming government.