Motuzas urges not to rush things as democrats deliver coalition ultimatum

VILNIUS - As the Democrats "For Lithuania" on Wednesday issued an ultimatum on the future of Prime Minister Gintautas Palucas as head of the government, Remigijus Motuzas, the elder of the Social Democratic political group in the Seimas, urges politicians not to rush things.

"I think it would probably be unethical for us politicians, first of all, to rush things today," Motuzas told reporters in the Seimas. "I think, first of all, we are not only responsible for ourselves…, we are responsible for the State of Lithuania and the Lithuanian society. Lithuania certainly wants stability in all aspects."

According to the politician, in order to achieve stability in the country, there should be as little talk as possible about crises in the coalition, and the Social Democrats, as the party with the largest group in the Seimas, are responsible for the future of the majority.

"The Social Democratic Party is certainly taking the situation very seriously and if the time comes, appropriate decisions will be made. And I think that today we probably need to be more serious, we need more stability, and perhaps stay silent when making decisions or when saying today already who should be in the coalition and who should not be in the coalition," Motuzas, who called for making fewer wishes in politics.

As BNS reported earlier in the day, Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Saulius Skvernelis said that his Democrats "For Lithuania" would leave the ruling coalition if Social Democrat Gintautas Paluckas remained as prime minister.

Also, he said, if the prime minister changed and the coalition agreement was renegotiated again, the Democrats would unlikely to agree to be part of the same coalition with Nemunas Dawn again.

Motuzas stressed that the Democrats already knew what kind of partner Nemunas Dawn would be when they decided to work in the coalition last year.

He also hopes that the future prime minister, whoever they might be, would ensure the continuity of the work of both the current Cabinet of Ministers and the coalition.

On the other hand, Motuzas said, that the Social Democrats are not yet considering possible alternatives to Paluckas, adding that he himself would not agree to serve as prime minister.

"I don't have a certain professional background in certain areas. A prime minister has to be very versatile," Motuzas said.

BNS reported earlier that last week President Gitanas Nauseda gave Paluckas two weeks to decide either to give a reasoned answer to the questions raised by the public about his business and his past, or to consider resigning.

In addition, the president called on Paluckas to seek a vote of confidence in the parliament.