Lithuanian Social Democrats' interim leader Sinkevicius says won't seek PM post - BNS INTERVIEW

VILNIUS - Mindaugas Sinkevicius, the interim leader of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), said on Thursday he has no intention of seeking the prime minister's post following Gintautas Paluckas' resignation and promised that the party will nominate a new candidate without delay.

"I'm not showing any such ambition at the moment and I believe we'll find another suitable candidate or candidates," Sinkevicius told BNS in an interview.

"Yes, there's a lot of talk about me without me. But there are other contenders too and I think what we can say today is (...) that we'll find the most suitable candidate from within our large organization," he added.

Sinkevicius says the Social Democrats will announce their candidate to become the next prime minister later this summer.

Sinkevicius became the LSDP's interim leader as he's the party's first deputy chair. According to him, it may take until the end of the year to hold an extraordinary election for the party's new leader.

Sinkevicius also says that even after Paluckas's resignation the existing coalition agreement with the Democrats "For Lithuania" and the Nemunas Dawn party remains in force, so there is no reason to renegotiate the ruling majority.

However, he does not rule out that the Social Democrats themselves might want to change the makeup of the coalition in the future.

SO WHAT THE PARTY WILL DO NOW AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO NOMINATE A NEW PRIME MINISTER?

It's hard to say, but we are surely aware that the state cannot be without a permanent government. (...) We will certainly not waste time and we will do our best during this summer season for the party presidium to meet and start a political debate and propose the party's nominee for the president to consider.

WOULD YOU YOURSELF BE READY TO BECOME PRIME MINISTER?

"I'm not showing any such ambition at the moment and I believe we'll find another suitable candidate or candidates. Yes, there's a lot of talk about me without me. But there are other contenders too and I think what we can say today is (...) that we'll find the most suitable candidate from within our large organization.

WHEN WILL THE PARTY'S NEW LEADER BE ELECTED?

It is difficult to say in advance now because obviously it will take time, and I think that since we have a general secret ballot, that is, all members are involved in the process, it takes time to organize it, and it usually takes months. So I think it is unrealistic to discuss that it will happen quickly. I think it could take the fall, the whole fall, and it may even move into the end of the year.

DOES THE PARTY AND YOU, AS THE PARTY'S LEADER, BELIEVE THAT THE COALITION AGREEMENT EXPIRES WITH PALUCKAS' RESIGNATION AND MUST BE RENEGOTIATED?

No. We and I, as the first deputy and the acting chair, believe that we should realize that the coalition was not made up of three people, Saulius Skvernelis, Remigijus Zemaitaitis and Gintautas Paluckas. It was formed by three collegial parties through their collegial decisions, whether in their boards, councils or presidiums.

It was a party decision, a collegial decision to go into a coalition with the conditions that were agreed. So far, none of the coalition partners, despite the rhetoric of the party leaders, has expressed a decision, a legitimate decision, to withdraw, that is to say, that has been made by their party bodies. Therefore, I believe that, as of today, the existing coalition, which was formed after the parliamentary election, is still valid and continues to function.

AND WILL IT STILL BE VALID AND STILL WORK, DESPITE THE CHANGE OF PRIME MINISTER, EVEN THOUGH HIS NAME IS ON THE COALITION AGREEMENT? DO I UNDERSTAND YOUR POSITION CORRECTLY?

Yes, I think so. As I want to say in this context, we can have all sorts of debate. Regardless of changes in the prime minister, regardless of changes in ministers, the political partners, whether one or the other, or even the Social Democrats themselves, can at any time say that they are pulling out. The door is certainly not locked, but for the time being, the coalition is working and has not ceased to be valid, has not stopped working.

WHY DOES THE FACT THAT YOU WERE PREVIOUSLY OPPOSED TO THE COALITION WITH THE NEMUNAS DAWN PARTY NOT CHANGE YOUR POSITION ON ALL THIS?

In the past, I spoke out as a politician, as a person, as one of the leaders of the party, but we as a party are not a one-man party. And that coalition was agreed by our party bodies. Whether those party organs, when they meet in the light of the situation, will want to change the decision, to modify it, I do not rule that out that it could happen. That is an open question.

WILL YOU STAND FOR ELECTION AS THE PARTY'S NEW LEADER AT THE EXTRAORDINARY ELECTION, THUS ACCEPTING THE VIEW THAT THE PARTY'S LEADER AND THE PRIME MINISTER CAN BE TWO DIFFERENT SOCIAL DEMOCRATS?

I think it is a very premature question, and we will discuss it within our community; I would not like to rush things.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD?

Perhaps I should have started with that. As the party's interim leader and as a member of the party, and as a person, (...) I and as a party, we want to apologize to the people, to the public, that we haven't lived up to their expectations, that it wasn't a very smooth start. I think that we as a community will draw the appropriate conclusions and try to regain the trust and support of the public.

THANK YOU.