Energy Ministry is biggest coalition issue - Sinkevicius

VILNIUS - The Energy Ministry is the biggest issue within the ruling coalition in Lithuania, Mindaugas Sinkevicius, the leader of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, says.

"It seems that a swap might be inevitable because we have tensions. (...) The Energy Ministry is the biggest issue," he told reporters on Friday after a meeting of representatives of the ruling coalition in the Seimas.

No agreement has yet been reached on who could take over the Energy Ministry from the Nemunas Dawn party party, Sinkevicius said, adding that the Social Democrats are not inclined to change their areas of responsibility, which are already enshrined in the annex to the coalition agreement.

He hopes that the coalition partners will be able to agree on the ministries and ministers next week.

Remigijus Zemaitaitis, the leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, says that nothing has been agreed upon yet and that consultations will continue.

"When we have decisions, the public will be informed," he said.

The priority right now, he says, is to agree on the candidates for ministers, and "only then will it be possible to talk about any swaps."

The Friday meeting at the office of Speaker of the Seimas Juozas Olekas attended by the leaders of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, the Nemunas Dawn party, and Prime Minister-designate Inga Ruginiene. Representatives of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and the Christian Families Alliance political group joined the meeting via videolink.

Sinkevicius says that any potential swap of ministries will take place between the leaders of the political forces that "physically attended" the meeting, i.e. the Social Democrats and the Nemunas Dawn party.

The LSDP leader also stated that if the party were to receive the Energy Ministry in exchange, it would not necessarily mean that Zygimantas Vaiciunas would stay as energy minister.

President Gitanas Nauseda has previously said that he would like to see Vaiciunas, who worked in the Paluckas government, to stay. He was initially delegated to this position by the Democrats "For Lithuania", who are not part of the new ruling coalition.

The latest debate within the ruling bloc in Lithuania is focusing on candidates for energy and environment ministers as the Nemunas Dawn party has so far failed to find people for these positions.

This is why the president appointed 12 of the 14 ministers earlier this month.

Due to this situation, Zemaitaitis threatened to leave the coalition earlier this week, but ultimately changed his mind.

In an effort to get the stalled process moving, Nauseda met with the leaders of the ruling bloc on Thursday, but the participants were reluctant to comment on what they talked about.

The Nemunas Dawn party currently holds the ministries of Energy, Environment, and Agriculture, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union has the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania - Christian Families Alliance holds the Ministry of Justice, and the Social Democrats hold all the rest.

The new ruling coalition has 82 seats in the Seimas.