2024-07-13 05:53:36
However, the festive mood was somewhat disturbed by Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s unexpected decision not to give a congratulatory speech to the re-elected head of the country during the ceremony. The Prime Minister also indicated that she will not attend the evening reception in the courtyard of the Presidency.
And the head of the government is not the only ruling politician who received an invitation to the banquet organized by the president and decided not to participate. It is true that there were those who should have received the invitation, but never received it.
I.Šimonytė: I chose not to speak
On Friday morning, the Seimas were in a festive mood: dressed up and in high spirits, the members of the Seimas gathered for the inauguration of the president, congratulated the head of the country and wished him a successful second term.
However, Prime Minister I. Šimonytė, unlike all Prime Ministers until now, did not read her welcome speech to the President during the meeting.
“As far as I know, there is no strict session for the inauguration of the canon, which is a session of the Seimas, and its script is prepared every time by a special commission.
After consulting with the Seimas, it was decided that the greeting of the Speaker of the Seimas and the speech of the President perfectly complement the content of the ceremony, so I chose not to make a separate speech, but to participate as in other solemn meetings of the Seimas”, the Prime Minister explained her choice.
He chose his daughter
However, even the partners of the ruling coalition, the Libertarians, stumbled on such a choice.
Vytautas Mitalas, the vice-chairman of the Freedom Party, is convinced that the Prime Minister was able to deliver the congratulatory speech after all.
“Especially because he doesn’t participate in the evening. I would have said that maybe he would send the greeting in the evening, but now it seems that it will be sent in some other way. Maybe when they coordinate ministerial candidacies, next week after the Prime Minister’s confirmation in the Seimas”, thought V. Mitalas.
According to Laisvietis, this behavior of the Prime Minister simply reflects the relationship between the Presidency and the Prime Minister.
“It demonstrates what it has demonstrated before – that those relations are not so warm, although the president, I understand, wants to warm those relations,” he remarked.
True, the “freeman” himself chose not to participate in the evening part of the celebration.
“I had planned to attend, but I will be spending time with my three-week-old daughter, not the president,” he explained.
The conservative did not receive the invitation
Although the Presidency invited the elders of all factions of the Seimas, the elder of the conservative faction Andrius Vyšniauskas did not receive an invitation to the western part.
“I did not receive an invitation, so I will not participate,” he said.
However, the doors of the Presidency are not closed to conservatives – A. Vyšniauskas indicated that some chairmen of conservative committees and ministers received invitations.
“Whoever received it, as far as I know, will participate,” said A. Vyšniauskas.
Social Democrats were invited by many
Algirdas Sys, a social democrat, heard somewhat different stories about the attitude of the rulers towards the evening celebration.
“Part of the rulers who are invited decided not to go to the party. It’s a personal choice”, said A.Sys, without detailing which rulers refused to participate in the celebration.
The Social Democrat considered that A. Vyšniauskas did not receive an invitation from the Presidency only because he became the elder of the faction relatively recently – after former elder Radvila Morkūnaitei-Mikulėnieni became the Minister of Education.
“He’s too young, maybe (Presidency – auto.post.) forgot, because they probably wrote the invitations a month ago, and he was not yet an elder – he was Radvilė”, the social democrat gave his explanation.
A.Sys, who himself did not receive an invitation to the evening part of the inauguration, said that the president invited not only Rasas Budbergytė, the elder of the social democratic faction, but also the vice-chairman of the Seimas, Julias Sabatauskas, as well as the member of the Seimas, Dovilė Šakalienė.
The Social Democrat also criticized the prime minister for choosing not to congratulate the president.
“I judge badly. Sometimes you have to go beyond your ambitions, because she is a prime minister, an official. Maybe I understand as a human being, but…”, said A.Sys.
The parliamentarian noticed that the protocol does not stipulate that the prime minister should give a speech, but this, according to him, is simply an unwritten rule.
“In this case, it’s not a crime that Ingrida Šimonytė committed today during the inauguration – it’s her attitude towards this whole event,” assessed the social democrat.
S. Skvernelis: all prime ministers found something to say
At that time, Saulius Skvernelis, the leader of the “Vardan Lietuvos” Democratic Union, received an invitation to the western part and will participate in it.
However, in contrast to the choice of the Prime Minister not to give a speech, S. Skvernelis evaluated her decision not to participate in the evening celebration neutrally.
“Because of the party, it’s already a private matter – you can participate or not. And there are many people there – two thousand, and they will get lost in that sea. There is no compulsion to go to the balls, but this ceremony is official, and as far as I can remember, all the prime ministers found something to say, despite the fact that they lost the election battle.
It was the same in 2019, it was an honor for me to speak and congratulate the president from the podium of the Seimas. I think that duty and honor should be fulfilled”, S. Skvernelis is convinced.
“I want to believe that this is not related to the fact that she lost the election. The Prime Minister is above all personal insults and should do the honor,” he added.
G. Surplys: there must be a day of unity
Peasant Giedrius Surplys took a similar position – according to him, the inauguration of the president is a Lithuanian holiday.
“We have the president of Lithuania elected for a second term, I look at it institutionally – it should still be a day of unity. It would be very nice if everyone maintained that unity, all levels of government, all parties.
Because a sufficiently large part of the citizens elected this president. Dates are always very important in a ritual sense – they bring people together, they must show that the nation can choose the government, can respect each other’s choices”, said G. Surplys.
Mr. Surplys said that he did not receive an invitation to the western part, but the peasant elder Aušrinė Norkienė did.
Presidency: not only a celebration in Vilnius
Advisor to the President Ridas Jasiulionis sent a comment to the news portal lrytas.lt on the principle of inviting guests to the inauguration events.
“At the request of the President, participants were invited to the inauguration events in order to ensure the widest possible representation of social groups, Lithuanian communities and regions, so that it would not only be a celebration of Vilnius or state institutions, but of the whole of Lithuania.
At the traditional evening reception in the inner courtyard of the Presidential Palace, approximately 2,000 people are expected. participants from all over Lithuania”, said the representatives of the Presidency.
2024-07-13 05:53:36