2024-05-12 07:14:59
The residences are called a legacy of the Soviet era
Andrius Mazuronis, the candidate for president nominated by the Labor Party, calls the initiative to force the president to live in Turniškės absurd. According to him, the residences assigned to the president and prime minister are a kind of legacy of the Soviet era.
“It seems to me completely absurd. How can you force a person to do something, live somewhere, apply some forced mechanisms. It seems to me that, in general, those Turniškės are power reserves from the Soviet era and the state should think about what to do with them”, Andrius Mazuronis, the candidate nominated by the Labor Party in the presidential elections, said to Elta.
The candidate assures that, if elected to the post of president, he would not want to move to Turniške. According to him, adequate protection can be ensured even if the head of the country stays in his home.
“No matter how much I don’t like the current president, we should stay away from surnames here and look at the principle itself. And the principle is wrong,” said the politician.
Dainius Žalimas, the candidate nominated by the Freedom Party in the presidential elections, is second to him.
“It seems to me that maybe we are overemphasizing this issue. Not all countries have such guarantees. It reminds me a little of the tradition of the Eastern countries, when it is absolutely necessary to have residences”, emphasized the candidate of the “free people” in Eltai.
However, according to D. Žalim, if the necessity of living in a residence for the president were established by law, such an obligation should be fulfilled.
“I think that the President has enough representative spaces in the Presidency. (…) But if such a law were to be passed, then the law should be enforced. On the other hand, I think it would be wise to allow the choice anyway. Because I remember that German Chancellor Merkel also lived in an apartment building. This, apparently, solves all problems,” said the candidate.
“For me, the image of the president closer to the people is closer, rather than the image of him holed up somewhere in a residence,” he added.
For his part, Ignas Vėgėlė, a lawyer participating in the election of the country’s leader, emphasizes that the benefits of such an initiative for Lithuania should be evaluated first of all.
“If such an initiative saves money, creates additional benefits for Lithuania, then yes. And if these are some kind of demonstrations of strength and power, then it is probably unwise and unwise to act like that,” emphasized I. Vēgėlė to Eltai.
The candidate claims that he does not understand the argument that the residence is currently empty. According to I. Vēgėlė, this situation can be easily solved by moving a large family to a residence.
“There are really many families with large children in Lithuania who would be happy if they could move there,” said I. Vėgėlė.
Eduardas Vaitkus, who is seeking the post of the head of the country, does not have an unequivocal answer as to whether the president should live in Turniškės.
“Everything depends on the specific situation. And I am for the fact that there is no need to coerce the President of Lithuania,” E. Vaitkus said to Eltai.
Therefore, according to him, legally obliging the president to settle in Turniškės would be a flawed practice.
“Because then it should be said that the candidate who became the president is a prisoner,” he emphasized.
It is easier to ensure the safety of the country’s leaders in residences
Giedrim Jeglinskas, the candidate of the Democratic Union “Vardan Lietuvos” in the elections, claims that he does not know whether the president should be forced to live in a residence. However, according to him, it is necessary to realize that the security of the head of the country can be ensured much more efficiently in the residence in Turniškės.
“It is difficult to say whether it is necessary to oblige. But we have to understand that the employees of the Department of State Security are now taking on additional risks, which are additional costs and resources, to maintain another residence”, G. Jeglinskas said to Eltai.
“Let’s not make it difficult for the State Defense Department. If this is a residence intended for the needs of the state, why waste its resource – let’s use it for the good of the country,” he added.
The presidential candidate Remigijus Žemaitaitis thinks similarly.
“I think it’s a matter of awareness and understanding. Residency is provided and guaranteed. Respecting the order of the state, respecting the laws of the state, you still have to move to that residence”, R. Žemaitaitis told Elta, assuring that he would definitely move to Turniškes if he became president.
“I understand that there is really no desire and pleasure to leave your home, where you have your own aura. But when I see those poor security guards in outdoor toilets, when I see that the poor security guards have to squat in sea containers, that (…) I don’t think it’s good,” he assured.
G. Nausėda and I. Šimonytė argued about the residence intended for the president
After the government approved the proposal that would oblige the head of the country to move to Turniške, the re-election-seeking president Gitanas Nausėda said this week that it is easy for the Cabinet of Ministers to make decisions when they themselves are not threatened with such an obligation.
Reacting to the Government’s decisions, G. Nausėda ironically proposed to determine the territory from which the presidents could not leave.
“By the way, I would say that maybe it is necessary to establish an enclosure for the president, for example, from which he cannot leave. About Turniškes, for example, 2 kilometers in one direction or the other. He could mushroom, but he couldn’t leave. That’s how I appreciate it,” said the leader of the Daukanta Square Chamber.
In her turn, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, who is running for the post of president, claims that by refusing to move to the residence planned for him, the country’s leader, Gitanas Nausėda, shows disrespect not only for the rules, but also for the personnel protecting him.
Therefore, the prime minister says that she sees the ironic statements of the head of the country that maybe it is necessary to establish a territory from which the presidents cannot leave, as bad humor.
“I see it as bad humor, because anyway the Government cannot oblige the president to do anything, according to the Constitution. This was the Government’s conclusion regarding the law being considered in the Seimas”, I. Šimonytė told reporters on Thursday in Lukiškiau Square.
The entry into force of the draft law is scheduled for when the new head of state and prime minister are appointed after the 2024 presidential and Seimas elections.
In early 2021, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė moved to the residence designated for the Prime Minister in Turiniškės, but the current President G. Nausėda refused to do so. According to the presidency, such a decision was made taking into account the conclusions of experts who analyzed the state of the Turniški residence and prepared possible scenarios for its renovation.
Currently, the Chancellery of the Presidency manages 3 buildings in Turniškės by right of trust and land plots on the basis of use. The main building of the president’s residence was built in 1940. After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence and the reconstruction of the building, presidents Valdas Adamkus and Rolandas Paksas lived in the residence, and later – president Dalia Grybauskaitė.
2024-05-12 07:14:59