The elected head of the capital, the current vice-mayor V. Benkunskas, describes this period simply – “a lot of work”, because intense negotiations are currently taking place for power in Vilnius.
He has already named the director of the administration, that is the current deputy director of the administration of Vilnius city municipality, Adomas Bužinskas, also a conservative.
Žygimantos Gedvilos/BNS photo/Adomas Bužinskas
However, another difficult task awaits V. Benkunskos – to appoint four more vice-mayors, at least one position of which will likely be entrusted to future coalition partners – the Freedom Party.
When asked if this position might be filled by the deputy director of the administration currently overseeing the field of education, representative of the Freedom Party D.Meiželytė, the elected mayor claimed that it is too early to talk regarding the names of future vice mayors.
“We have not yet reached that stage in the negotiations, so far we are talking regarding jobs (…) Vice-mayors are a matter of negotiations when we will have the governing majority. There is no speech regarding the vice-mayors yet, we are talking regarding the work program”, – 15min said V. Benkunskas.
Žygimantos Gedvilas/BNS photo/Valdas Benkunskas
“We start from the other end, one might say, first, we decide on the work that needs to be done in four years, and then there will be negotiations on positions, areas of mentoring, and then – who occupies those areas of mentoring,” he said.
In addition, according to V. Benkunskas, the Freedom Party itself would decide which person to delegate to the position of vice mayor.
“They should be asked (…) The right to delegate positions will belong to the coalition partners,” the elected mayor of the capital emphasized.
According to the Local Self-Government Law, vice-mayors and the director of administration must be appointed within three months from the day of taking the oath of office of the elected mayor.
V. Benkunskas should swear to serve the people of Vilnius during the first meeting of the new council on April 26.
“I might think regarding that position”
At that time, the representative of the Freedom Party was D. Meiželytė 15min admitted that he would consider taking on the position of vice mayor of the capital, but emphasized that “there are more” candidates.
“We always have more than one candidate and, of course, I would think regarding that position in the same way if the department had the trust, but there are more candidates,” said the current deputy director of administration.
Irmantos Gelūnos/BNS photo/Vytautas Mitalas, Donalda Meiželytė
When asked who the other candidates are, she said that it is a secret, because for now, according to her, “there is no point in publicizing or announcing” the names, since “people are doing other jobs.”
D. Meiželytė reminds that the priority area of the Freedom Party in the capital is precisely education, which it currently oversees.
“I manage pre-school and general education, and schools supplementing formal education, and non-formal education, and we increased the basket, and outdoor classroom projects went through with my leadership. In fact, there is definitely something to be done in this area, because a lot of work should be done with the municipal kindergartens, plus there are already started projects”, D.Meiželytė mentioned past and future works.
When asked if she imagined herself in the position of the vice mayor responsible for education, she said: “of course I imagine, because now there will be practically no more deputy directors of administration, vice mayors will do administrative work, so in practice the vice mayors will be in the same positions as I am currently working in, only that , that he will have such a more resounding name and a lower salary.”
There is no agreement yet
V. Benkunskas admits that the consensus on the ruling majority in the capital’s council has not yet been reached.
“Until we have reached an agreement, we do not have a coalition yet, and we are conducting negotiations with the Freedom Party, which is the only one so far,” said the future mayor of Vilnius.
The conservatives will have 19 seats in the council, the Freedom Party – nine, so theoretically an agreement between these two political forces would ensure them a majority.
This is two mandates more than needed.
Žygimantos Gedvilas/BNS photo/Vilnius
“At the initial stage, negotiations are taking place with the Freedom Party, so the negotiations are advanced. As for the work, everything is moving forward for now. It is important to shape the city’s future in the same way, in terms of work, seeing the ruling majority, which needs 26 members”, said V. Benkunskas.
He emphasized that “no alternatives” are currently under consideration, if negotiations with the Freedom Party sometimes fail.
If the “collusion” between the conservatives and the Freedom Party were successful, the Freedom and Justice party, which received nine mandates, the Lithuanian Polish Election Action-Christian Families Union, which won seven mandates, as well as the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party and the National Unification with four and three mandates, respectively, would remain in the opposition.
There are a total of 51 mandates in the capital city council.
