Lithuanian health minister to resign

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Health Minister Algis Caplikas has announced that he will resign from his post because he has lost the full support of the ruling coalition.

The announcement comes in the wake of the arrest of deputy health minister Arturas Skikas, who admitted to accepting a bribe - this despite an announcement by Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius earlier this week that he saw no reason the minister should step down over the affair.

Caplikas has reseived harsh criticism, particularly from the powerful Conservative party, over his attempts at health care reform.

"Having appraised the developing situation and given that the opinions of the leaders of the Conservative Party, the biggest coalition partner, have diverged, and knowing that I don't have the unanimous support of this coalition partner, I cannot continue with the work I have started, which is why I am announcing that I will present my resignation to the prime minister," Caplikas said in a statement to the press.

Seimas Speaker Irena Degutiene had previously said that Caplikas would have a difficult time implementing reform in light of the scandal surrounding his deputy.

It is the second minister that the country has seen step down in recent weeks, following the resignation of Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas who stepped down after the president said publically that she had lost confidence in him.