Lithuanian Prime Minister calls for parlament probe of ties between interests of politicians, businesses

  • 2017-09-23
  • LETA/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – After the law-enforcement brought corruption suspicions against the Liberal Movement and the Labor Party, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis delegated by the ruling Farmers and Greens Union says he will initiate a parliamentary inquiry into transparency of ties of politicians with interest groups.

"The time has indeed come, I will invite members of the Seimas to set up the team and take a broad look at politicians, political operations, influence of various business groups and other concerned groups upon decisions taken by politicians," Skvernelis, on a visit in the port city of Klaipeda on Friday, told BNS.

In his words, the law-enforcement is "talking hard but determined steps" by investigating one of the biggest cases of political corruption, and the bribery and influence peddling suspicions against another two parties is a blow on the entire political system.

"It is an enormous blow on the political system of Lithuania – two more political parties, two more sets of suspicions against parties as legal entities. This is not about one politician or another who possibly did something and possibly did not know about certain corrupt operations. This is suspicions against an entire organization, and the suspicions fall upon all members of the organizations," said the head of the government.

Skvernelis said it was the reason why the parliamentary investigation was needed.

The parliament currently includes six parties, and three of them – Order and Justice, the Labor Party and the Liberal Movement – face suspicions in corruption investigations as legal entities.