PM meets with reps of opposition group

The meeting was not listed on his agenda.

Tomas Beržinskas, spokesman for the prime minister, told BNS it had been a working meeting to discuss the tasks for the upcoming spring session. Among those invited to the meeting were representatives of the conservatives, the Liberal Movement, the Order and Justice party and the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Union of Christian Families.

“It is a traditional working meeting the prime minister holds with representatives of various groups, it is definitely not the first one. It is a new tradition – the prime minister has said in the past he would do this. Parallel meetings with representatives of ruling groups are also held,” Beržinskas told BNS.

Ramūnas Karbauskis, the leader of the Lithuanian Farmers and Green Union that delegated Skvernelis to the government, says that the opposition gets the attention to secure their support to decisions taken at the parliament, especially the decisions where the party’s opinion differs from that held by its coalition partner, the Social Democrats.

“The practice for Saulius Skvernelis to attend the conservatives’ congress of meet with leaders of political groups is a normal process. I know about them, he keeps me up to date (…). We need to go, we need to talk to them and be there, because we will very much need their help when we make the decisions on alcohol control and other things,” Karbauskis, the elder of the LFGU group, told Žinių Radijas news radio on Tuesday.

“There can be cases and they will emerge during the spring session when we and the Social Democrats have different stances, and we will take decisions without our coalition partners but with the help from the opposition. However, this will not offend the Social Democrats or us,” he emphasized.