Lithuanian MPs to continue debate on making January 13 public holiday

VILNIUS – Lithuanian lawmakers have decided to continue their debate on declaring January 13, the Day of the Defenders of Freedom, a public holiday.

On Tuesday, the Seimas Committee on Social Affairs and Labor did not approve the conclusion to reject Seimas Speaker Saul Skvernelis' proposal. The committee's conclusion was backed by 33 members of the Seimas, 78 voted against and eight abstained.

Skvernelis says the Day of the Defenders of Freedom deserved more recognition than its current status of a commemorative day.

Meanwhile, the Committee on Social Affairs and Labor believes that, although January 13, 1991 was one of the most important dates in the history of modern Lithuania, it is characterized by established commemorative traditions.

After the Seimas rejected this conclusion, the motion will be further considered by the parliamentary Committee on Human Rights.

Now in Lithuania, there are 16 public holidays, three of which fall on weekends.

The government agrees to declare January 13 a public holiday but is proposing not to increase the number of non-working days by excluding November 2, All Souls' Day, from the list of public holiday.

Some politicians propose making January 13 a public holiday instead of the International Labor Day on May 1.

Fourteen civilians were killed and hundreds more were wounded when the Soviet troops stormed the TV Tower and the Radio and Television Committee building in Vilnius in the early morning hours of January 13, 1991 as the Soviets attempted to overthrow by military force the legitimate government of Lithuania, which had declared its independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990.