Lithuanian parliament accepts official ethics chief's resignation

VILNIUS - The Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Romas Valentukevicius as head of the Chief Official Ethics Commission (VTEK) with 99 votes in favor, none against and none abstaining.

"We have lost confidence in the commission. I believe that changes to both the composition and staffing of the commission should be made in the near future," Viktoras Pranckietis, the speaker of the Seimas, said while introducing the draft resolution on Valentukevicius' dismissal from the post, which will take effect on Mar. 20.

The speaker back in January called on Valentukevicius to step down from the post he has held since 2014, but the head of the commission did not submit a letter of resignation until last week.

Valentukevicius came under criticism after he made a unilateral decision that Greta Kildisiene, who was then a member of the Seimas, was not under the obligation to declare that she was driving a car leased by her mother from Agrokoncernas, a company owned by Ramunas Karbauskis, chairman of the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LFGU).

The VTEK returned to this issue last week and stated that Kildisiene had broken the law by failing to declare that she was driving Agrokoncernas' car.

The commission is made up of five members appointed for a term of five years.