Conservative leader Landsbergis: Prime Minister lied, Environment Minister must resign

“It is pathetic. A shameful read, especially if you bear in mind what the prime minister said before. We see the way that decisions are made in the government, how rules and procedures are circumvented. The prime minister publicly told lies,” Landsbergis, an MEP, told Žinių Radijas.

The Special Investigations Service recently dropped an investigation that concerned illegal construction in Druskininkai, a resort town, and a suspicious government decree to lift zoning requirements that legalized the house linked to the town’s mayor.

Investigators questioned Environment Minister Kęstutis Trečiokas about suspected illegal pressure to adopt the decree, but later dropped the case. They said that political ethics watchdogs should look into the matter and published transcripts of tapped phone conversations between Trečiokas and Druskininkai Mayor Ričardas Malinauskas. In them, Trečiokas is recorded promising to speed up the adoption of the decree.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė has also indicated she would like to see Trečiokas resign, but the minister said he had the prime minister’s backing and was not planning to step down.