“It’s a surprise”, he told BNS Lithuania.
Asked if he would look for another candidate, the prime minister said he, first, wished to consider the president’s arguments. “I don’t know. First, I will consider the arguments and then will look into further legal ways”, Skvernelis said.
Earlier in the say, the president said she would not appoint Danėlius as the country’s justice minister. Speaking to BNS Lithuania, Danėlius refrained from any comments on the president’s decision before looking into the president’s motives.
“The candidate nominated by the prime minister, Giedrius Danėlius, will not be appointed to the post of justice minister because of a possible conflict of interest,” the office said in a comment.
“An attorney chooses whether to represent and defend one or another client. The candidate’s choices to represent clients in a specific political corruption case preclude his appointment to a political position,” it said.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis informed Grybauskaitė about his decision to nominate Danėlius for justice minister on Monday and formally nominated him two days later.
Danelius represented Grybauskaitė’s spokeswoman Daiva Ulbinaitė in a case where she was accused of revealing a state secret. Ulbinaitė was later acquitted.
He recently represented former MG Baltic vice president Raimondas Kurlianskis, suspected of bribery, in a political corruption case involving MG Baltic and several political parties. The case was handed over to court earlier this week.
Under the Constitution, ministers are appointed by the president on the prime minister’s recommendation.