The minister’s continuation in his job came into question last weekend when the Labour Party, which delegated him to the post, said it wanted to recall Pavalkis for failing to implement the party’s programme.
Pavalkis seemed at first reluctant to step down, saying that the party was trying to penalize him for refusing to compromise his duties in favour of party interests. President Dalia Grybauskaitė also commented that Pavalkis was doing a fine job.
On Thursday, however, Pavalkis said in a statement he did not see any possibilities to carry on in his job. “By staying in the minister’s post I would forgo the opportunity to be evaluated objectively in the future. There are too many challenges in the field of education and science for us to be able to waste time on PR campaigns and negative emotions. I see no possibility to continue the work I’ve started, therefore I have decided to resign,” Pavalkis said in the statement circulated by the government.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has accepted his resignation. Pavalkis should stay in the position until 11 May.
President Grybauskaitė will not comment on the situation until the prime minister’s submission is received, presidential spokeswoman Daiva Ulbinaitė told BNS.
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