President blames all political parties for atmosphere of ‘bickering’ in Seimas

“First of all, we must hear, see and react to what the people of Lithuania say to us. What is very important is that many young people gathered, that there was a lot of people and that it was a peaceful expression of opinion,” Grybauskaitė told reporters, commenting on Thursday’s protest rally outside the parliament building in Vilnius.

“This also shows that our society is maturing and that our people begin to care about how politicians work, and this should be a very serious signal, especially for the Seimas, which increasingly becomes a parliament of bickering,” she added.

The president thinks that it is the bickering and wrangling the Seimas has been locked in since the 2016 general election that has caused public discontent and protests.

“I don’t think it was (this week’s) vote on Bastys that triggered the protest. It seems to me that the past year and a half is the reason for this and that it would be a big mistake for politicians to ignore the public’s opinion and moods,” she said.

“Practically all political groups in the Seimas are busy bickering with one another instead of doing their direct job, and people wanted to say what they thought about that.”

Grybauskaitė dismissed the opposition’s calls for an early parliamentary election as unrealistic, urging the Seimas to do real work rather than discussing initiatives that cannot be realized.