President vs. PM over the economy minister

  • 2011-03-02
  • By Rokas M. Tracevskis

THE MAN WAS ASKED TO LEAVE: Three managers of the Lithuanian economy (from left to right) – Economy Minister Dainius Kreivys, Finance Minister Ingrida Simonyte and President Dalia Grybauskaite – during a Lithuanian business promotion event in 2010. Now Grybauskaite has asked Kreivys to leave his post.

VILNIUS - Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, with her positive approval rating of 81.8 percent and negative opinion of only 5.5 percent of the population (a survey by Vilmorus company published by the daily Lietuvos Rytas on Feb. 26), decided to show Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, who has a negative rating of 75.3 percent and positive approval of 10.2 percent of Lithuanians, that she is the Number 1 in the state. On Feb. 15, Grybauskaite stated that she has “no trust” in Economy Minister Dainius Kreivys.

Grybauskaite’s statement was caused by the fact that Kreivys approved the co-financing from EU funds for a project to renovate two schools in Vilnius - a company, in which his mother, Florentina Kreiviene, has a significant amount of shares also takes part in that project. Kreivys, 40, himself is a former businessman who passed his shares to his mother when he became the economy minister. Grybauskaite stated that a person who goes into politics should not be influenced by his personal business interests. “It is impossible to sit on two chairs simultaneously,” Grybauskaite said.

On Feb. 21, reacting to her statement, Kubilius met with Kreivys, who is a member of the Kubilius-led Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats. They decided not to surrender so quickly to the presidential demands. Kreivys is a devoted Catholic, attending the meetings of Opus Dei (interestingly enough, the Opus Dei-related economists created an economic miracle in Spain during the last decade of rule of the notorious Francisco Franco), who was highly valued by Kubilius for his ability to keep public procurement procedures away from the shadowy deals with Lithuanian large-scale private business bosses – they used to influence the state-organized procurement procedures during the former rule of Social Democrats.

“I regret that some doubts could appear in society and the president. I’m not stuck to my chair, but I’m ready to work. The handling of my former shares will be arranged in such a way that nobody should have doubts about it,” Kreivys said in a government office during a rather nervous joint press conference with Kubilius after their meeting, where they decided that the economy minister should stay in his post.

The reaction from the presidential palace came immediately during a briefing by Linas Balsys, spokesman for Grybauskaite. He explained in more plain language what Grybauskaite’s “no trust” means. “The president urges him to resign,” Balsys said about Kreivys.

However, Kubilius responded that he will make up his mind after the municipality election of Feb. 27. Regardless, Parliament Speaker Irena Degutiene, who is the second most popular politician in Lithuania and who is considered to be a potential rival to the Kubilius leadership inside Lithuania’s ruling political party, the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, expressed her support for Grybauskaite and said that Kreivys should re-consider his position regarding the president’s opinion.