Seimas speaker expects deal with Order and Justice to help ensure majority

“I think the signing of the agreement will take place at the very start of the fall session. That would ensure a formal majority. Informally, we have it,” Viktoras Pranckietis told reporters.

“(We don’t agree to) all of the (Order and Justice) requirements, but talks on the requirements are ongoing and I think we’ll manage to finalize these issues before the signing,” he said.

The Order and Justice has put forward a list of 15 measures that the Seimas should adopt by the end of its current tenure.

The speaker confirmed that the ruling bloc had agreed to 12 of the 15 requirements, but he did not elaborate.

The party wants the cooperation agreement to include a commitment to raise the minimum monthly wage to at least 50 percent of the average wage, which should reach 1,000 euros next year.

Its proposals also include introducing direct elections of heads of elderships, the smallest administrative units of Lithuania, as well as the institute of jurors in courts and a reduced 9-percent tax rate for fuel used for heating.

They also call for imposing restrictions on the opening hours of major shopping centers on weekends and for increase funding for housing renovation.

The LVŽS offers the post of a Seimas vice-speaker to the Justice and Order.

The agreement would be signed by the political groups of the LVŽS, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Labor Party (LSDDP) and the Order and Justice in the parliament.

The Order and Justice has seven seats in the Seimas, the LVŽS has 55 and the LSDDP has eleven.