According to the agreement signed at the beginning of July, authorities decided to change at least three ministers: transport and communications, interior, and agriculture.
Jaroslav Narkevič, member of the Seimas of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, became the minister of transport and communications, while the chairwoman of the Seimas faction of EAPL-CFA Rita Tamašunienė was appointed as the new Minister of the Interior. Mr Andrius Palionis, member of the Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, became the new Minister of Agriculture.
Phd Bogusław Rogalski, political scientist, says: ‚It was another success of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance. After the victorious local elections in March, when the party emphasized its unrivaled position in the Vilnius region and the May elections to the European Parliament, when Valdemar Tomaševski won the mandate of the member of the European Parliament for the third time in a row, now the party has joined the ruling coalition of Lithuania, filling as many as two key ministries, interior and transport and communications.‘
EAPL-CFA will supervise areas such as internal affairs and administration, local government, infrastructure development, transport, and roads.
‚Program points are the most important, and practically most of the EAPL-CFA party program proposals were included in the coalition agreement,‘ said EAPL-CFA chairman Valdemar Tomaševski after signing the coalition agreement.
Moreover, Tomaševski underlined that it is necessary to strengthen self-governance. ‚ Only 14 percent of funds are allocated to local governments, which is an anti record in the European Union. The coalition agreement provides for this to change. Because it is the local government power that is the closest to the inhabitants,‘ stressed Tomaševski.
When more than one minister is changed, the Seimas should vote on a vote of confidence for the government. This vote seems to be a formality, because the new government coalition has 76 votes out of 141 forming the entire chamber.
We would like to remind you, that the new coalition agreement was signed on 5th July. 4 parties entered the new coalition: Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Unions, EAPL-CFA, Order and Justice party, and Social Democratic Labour Party.
As the result of the coalition agreement, the rulers decided to change at least three ministers: transport and communications, interior, and agriculture. The posts of the ministers of transport ad communications an of the interior were assigned to EAPL-CFA. As the party underlined, these two ministries are very important. The Ministry of the Interior, apart from being responsible for the police, also deals with administration and local governments, which is crucial from the point of view of the Polish minority in Lithuania. In turn, communication and transport is an extremely important field for the whole of Lithuania, making 10 percent of GDP.
Participation in the government coalition is another important success of EAPL-CFA. Last March the party definitely won in the local elections in the Vilnius region, when it won 53 seats of councillors, which puts EAPL-CFA in the first place among all the parties. One third of Lithuanian residents live in the Vilnius region, and the region generates almost half of the Lithuanian economy. In total, EAPL-CFA has its councilors in six Lithuanian local governments; the party exercises power independently in two of these (Vilnius and Šalčininkai regions), and in the other four it is in a coalition.
To add, last May the chairman of EAPL-CFA Valdemar Tomašesvki was elected as the member of the European Parliament for the third time in a row. He gained 70 thousand votes and about 5.5 percent from valid electoral cards. This result proves that EAPL-CFA retained its position from the parliamentary elections from 2.5 years ago, which other parliamentary parties failed to do. Other parties, including conservatives who won the EP elections, lost their positions and received less support.
