The former Seimas speaker immediately after hearing the vote count. Photo by Nathan Greenhalgh.
VILNIUS — Parliamentary Speaker Arūnas Valinskas resigned today after losing a vote of no confidence in Seimas.
Some 95 votes against him in a secret ballot, well over the 71 needed, sealed his fate in the vote. The vote result was announced at 3 p.m. today in the Lithuanian capital.
“This was necessary. To work without the political fights inside against colleagues – there was no chance for any other decision. In his decision must come a professional man or woman who knows what to do,” Laimontas Dinius, a fellow member of Valinskas’ National Resurrection Party, told Baltic Reports.
When asked why he didn’t resign on his own, Valinskas said the decision was for the Seimas.
“When our fraction moved away, we already had the decision made that we would go to the end. The parliament speaker must be dismissed in the place where he was appointed. Everything was done in accordance with the statutes of the Seimas,” Valinskas said at a press conference after the vote.
Valinskas said he didnt know who would replace him yet.
“The most important thing in the coalition is for the new speaker to be stable and they aren’t going to make any fuss or blackmail anyone. The decision will be calmly considered and I think on Thursday we can tell you the decision,” he said.
The coalition is expected to stay the same despite Valinskas’ demotion, Dinius said.
Fellow National Resurrection Party MP Laimontas Dinius said Valinskas' poor leadership was also to blame for the vote results. Photo by Adam Mullett.
Poor leadership blamed
Only 20 votes were in support of Valinskas and nine abstained. In addition to the criminal accusations, parliament members cited Valinskas’ poor handling of the job as an impetus for the no confidence vote.
“Not enough knowledge and practice and too much arrogance. When a person in such a high position thinks only of his own problems and uses unintelligent words in speeches and too often works against other members of parliament — this is not acceptable,” Dinius said.
After refusing to resign despite censure from the President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Valinskas waited for a vote of fellow Seimas members to decide whether he should leave his post after being accused by his former party members of being involved with the criminal gang Daktarai (The Doctors).
The vote of no confidence was a secret ballot. Photo by Nathan Greenhalgh
Local media reported that Valinskas gave advice to his former colleagues in the National Resurrection Party, which was founded last year, that they should seek information from sources within the Seimas for details known about the gang.
