VILNIUS — Parliamentary speaker Irena Degutienė appears to have back-flipped after she threw her support behind Algirdas Čaplikas in becoming the vice speaker in the Seimas.

Just weeks earlier, Degutienė denounced Čaplikas when he was health minister, a post which he resigned from on Feb. 10 following a corruption scandal that unfolded on [private_supervisor]his watch.

“Yes, it is acceptable. Čaplikas worked as a vice speaker during the last term of the Seimas, when the Liberal and Center Union was controlling most of the time with the Social Democrats. As vice speaker Čaplikas worked well,” Degutienė told journalists Wednesday.

The vice speaker post will become free soon because, in a rather tidy switcheroo, Raimondas Šukys, who was vice speaker up until now will likely soon be sworn in as minister of health.

Vice speakers in the Seimas work as understudies to the speaker, but also sign off on minutes of sessions in parliament.

New leaf

Since his resignation from the health minister’s post, Čaplikas has been busy making a new start for his party. On Wednesday he announced that his party would start a new partnership with the National Resurrection Party, headed by Arūnas Valinskas, who was himself forced to resign from the Seimas speaker’s position last year.

“Time will tell what form this cooperation with the party led by Arunas Valinskas will take, but it’s a fact that we will work together and coordinate our actions,” Čaplikas told local media.

Associate professor of politics and analayst Juratė Novogrodkienė told Baltic Reports that following his resignation from Cabinet, Čaplikas has gained new political clout.

“The leaders of the coalition want to keep it together and every person is important, because there are just 71 seats in the coalition, and for this reason it is possible that he will be make vice-speaker,” Novogrodkienė said.

The minimum size of a ruling coalition is 71 seats, being just over half of the 141 places in the Seimas.

She said keeping these two demanding fractions happy was vital for the stability of the government.

“These two are the most unstable partners in the coalition — they are like blackmail fractions. They want a lot but on the other hand they could even possibly make new ties with the opposition. The conservative party is leading and the liberal union is a stable partner, but they must be very flexible with their partners to keep the coalition together,“ she said. “They could be looking to create an alternative Cabinet in the future.“

Together, the new alliance makes up just under one fifth of the ruling coalition’s 71 seats.[/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]his watch.

“Yes, it is acceptable. Čaplikas worked as a vice speaker during the last term of the Seimas, when the Liberal and Center Union was controlling most of the time with the Social Democrats. As vice speaker Čaplikas worked well,” Degutienė told journalists Wednesday.

The vice speaker post will become free soon because, in a rather tidy switcheroo, Raimondas Šukys, who was vice speaker up until now will likely soon be sworn in as minister of health.

Vice speakers in the Seimas work as understudies to the speaker, but also sign off on minutes of sessions in parliament.

New leaf

Since his resignation from the health minister’s post, Čaplikas has been busy making a new start for his party. On Wednesday he announced that his party would start a new partnership with the National Resurrection Party, headed by Arūnas Valinskas, who was himself forced to resign from the Seimas speaker’s position last year.

“Time will tell what form this cooperation with the party led by Arunas Valinskas will take, but it’s a fact that we will work together and coordinate our actions,” Čaplikas told local media.

Associate professor of politics and analayst Juratė Novogrodkienė told Baltic Reports that following his resignation from Cabinet, Čaplikas has gained new political clout.

“The leaders of the coalition want to keep it together and every person is important, because there are just 71 seats in the coalition, and for this reason it is possible that he will be make vice-speaker,” Novogrodkienė said.

The minimum size of a ruling coalition is 71 seats, being just over half of the 141 places in the Seimas.

She said keeping these two demanding fractions happy was vital for the stability of the government.

“These two are the most unstable partners in the coalition — they are like blackmail fractions. They want a lot but on the other hand they could even possibly make new ties with the opposition. The conservative party is leading and the liberal union is a stable partner, but they must be very flexible with their partners to keep the coalition together,“ she said. “They could be looking to create an alternative Cabinet in the future.“

Together, the new alliance makes up just under one fifth of the ruling coalition’s 71 seats.[/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]his watch.

“Yes, it is acceptable. Čaplikas worked as a vice speaker during the last term of the Seimas, when the Liberal and Center Union was controlling most of the time with the Social Democrats. As vice speaker Čaplikas worked well,” Degutienė told journalists Wednesday.

The vice speaker post will become free soon because, in a rather tidy switcheroo, Raimondas Šukys, who was vice speaker up until now will likely soon be sworn in as minister of health.

Vice speakers in the Seimas work as understudies to the speaker, but also sign off on minutes of sessions in parliament.

New leaf

Since his resignation from the health minister’s post, Čaplikas has been busy making a new start for his party. On Wednesday he announced that his party would start a new partnership with the National Resurrection Party, headed by Arūnas Valinskas, who was himself forced to resign from the Seimas speaker’s position last year.

“Time will tell what form this cooperation with the party led by Arunas Valinskas will take, but it’s a fact that we will work together and coordinate our actions,” Čaplikas told local media.

Associate professor of politics and analayst Juratė Novogrodkienė told Baltic Reports that following his resignation from Cabinet, Čaplikas has gained new political clout.

“The leaders of the coalition want to keep it together and every person is important, because there are just 71 seats in the coalition, and for this reason it is possible that he will be make vice-speaker,” Novogrodkienė said.

The minimum size of a ruling coalition is 71 seats, being just over half of the 141 places in the Seimas.

She said keeping these two demanding fractions happy was vital for the stability of the government.

“These two are the most unstable partners in the coalition — they are like blackmail fractions. They want a lot but on the other hand they could even possibly make new ties with the opposition. The conservative party is leading and the liberal union is a stable partner, but they must be very flexible with their partners to keep the coalition together,“ she said. “They could be looking to create an alternative Cabinet in the future.“

Together, the new alliance makes up just under one fifth of the ruling coalition’s 71 seats.[/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]his watch.

“Yes, it is acceptable. Čaplikas worked as a vice speaker during the last term of the Seimas, when the Liberal and Center Union was controlling most of the time with the Social Democrats. As vice speaker Čaplikas worked well,” Degutienė told journalists Wednesday.

The vice speaker post will become free soon because, in a rather tidy switcheroo, Raimondas Šukys, who was vice speaker up until now will likely soon be sworn in as minister of health.

Vice speakers in the Seimas work as understudies to the speaker, but also sign off on minutes of sessions in parliament.

New leaf

Since his resignation from the health minister’s post, Čaplikas has been busy making a new start for his party. On Wednesday he announced that his party would start a new partnership with the National Resurrection Party, headed by Arūnas Valinskas, who was himself forced to resign from the Seimas speaker’s position last year.

“Time will tell what form this cooperation with the party led by Arunas Valinskas will take, but it’s a fact that we will work together and coordinate our actions,” Čaplikas told local media.

Associate professor of politics and analayst Juratė Novogrodkienė told Baltic Reports that following his resignation from Cabinet, Čaplikas has gained new political clout.

“The leaders of the coalition want to keep it together and every person is important, because there are just 71 seats in the coalition, and for this reason it is possible that he will be make vice-speaker,” Novogrodkienė said.

The minimum size of a ruling coalition is 71 seats, being just over half of the 141 places in the Seimas.

She said keeping these two demanding fractions happy was vital for the stability of the government.

“These two are the most unstable partners in the coalition — they are like blackmail fractions. They want a lot but on the other hand they could even possibly make new ties with the opposition. The conservative party is leading and the liberal union is a stable partner, but they must be very flexible with their partners to keep the coalition together,“ she said. “They could be looking to create an alternative Cabinet in the future.“

Together, the new alliance makes up just under one fifth of the ruling coalition’s 71 seats.[/private_subscription 1 year]

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