“I have no doubt that the faction will unanimously vote for the cancellation of the mandate of Petrus Gražulis, a total of 85 votes of Seimas members are needed to cancel the mandate of a member of the Seimas. To the best of my knowledge, this number is guaranteed,” Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, a member of the Freedom faction, told reporters in the Seimas on Tuesday.
He was the initiator of the impeachment of P. Gražuliu.
“Mr. Gražulis has come to an end in the Seimas”, said the politician.
According to him, voting in the Seimas is not “some kind of joke or fun adventure”, but is “voting by delegated representatives of the people expressing the will of the people”.
“If we consider one button not a gross violation, but simply some kind of prank, then by pranking a large group of Seimas members, the will of the Seimas will be distorted. I am very happy with today’s CT decision and I think that the Seimas should do its job, and not joke and push buttons for other Seimas members”, asserted TV Raskevičius.
The representatives of the Conservative, Liberal Movement, Social Democratic Party, and Democratic factions did not doubt that the members of the faction would support the cancellation of Mr. Gražulis’ mandate.
“We haven’t had a discussion yet, but I have a feeling the direction of the vote will be to support the revocation of the mandate,” said the chairman of the governing Fatherland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis.
Liberal movement elder Eugenijus Gentvilas also asserted that the CT decision is a sufficient basis to vote for the revocation of the mandate.
The member of the Seimas admitted that he was not sure whether a one-time act could be considered a gross violation of the Constitution and a violation of the oath.
“Now the Constitutional Court has established the practice that even a one-time vote depriving another member of the Seimas of the right to express his opinion, possibly changing his (position – BNS), voting differently than he would have liked, is a gross violation of the oath and a violation of the Constitution. All future members of the Seimas will have to know that this cannot be done. The constitutional doctrine has been formed,” he said.
E. Gentvilas considered that there might not be a vote on the cancellation of Mr. Gražulis’ mandate in the Seimas, as he has the right to refuse it himself.
“He is giving signals that he will leave the Seimas without waiting for a stain to fall, because his sin, confirmed by the vote of the Seimas, would prevent him from participating in the next elections,” said the liberal.
Algirdas Sys, a member of the opposition Social Democratic Party faction, had no doubt that his colleagues would vote for Mr. Gražulis’ removal from parliament.
“We have always held the position that P. Gražulis has violated not only in this case, but also in other cases, and we will continue to hold this opinion. We will vote for. I think that he tried and achieved that result so that his mandate would be taken away from him,” said the social democrat.
Lukas Savickas, representative of the opposition Democratic faction “Vardan Lietuvos” also said that the decision of the Seimas should not come as a surprise.
“We have always said that we should not be distracted and let the responsible institutions do their work. The CT made a very clear assessment, stated that the Constitution was violated, that voting for another member of the Seimas is completely incompatible, improper treatment of the mandate of a member of the Seimas, and I would predict that the Seimas should really take the necessary decisions rather quickly and without major surprises to consolidate this court decision “said the politician.
At that time, Aušrinė Norkienė, the elder of the opposition “peasants”, claimed that a secret vote would be held, so each member of the Seimas would express their will according to their understanding and conscience. According to her, there will be no binding decision of the group to adhere to one position on this issue.
“I want to remind you that there will be a secret vote, which obliges every member of the Seimas to act as he swore to when he put his hand on the Constitution. Secret voting obliges the Seimas member to decide how he should vote according to his conscience,” said A. Norkienė.
Previously, the “peasants” did not support the initiative to impeach Mr. Gražulis. A. Norkienė did not rule out that the CT decision could change the opinion of some faction members.
The representative of “Darbiečiai” Viktoras Fyodorovs also said that the group will not accept a joint decision on this issue.
“I myself work at the Ethics Commission, I saw that material myself and I don’t see a button being pressed in that material, maybe KT saw something more, maybe he evaluated other motives, I still want to read. I have to evaluate everything and I will form an opinion,” he said.
V. Fiodorov did not predict how the voting in the Seimas could end: “I couldn’t say that Petr Gražulis can feel calm, but I can’t say that those in power can feel victorious. The vote could go either way.”
The elder of the mixed group of Seimas members, Agnė Širinskienė, considered that the faction might not participate in the vote on the revocation of the mandate.
“I think that those in power, if they have already started that process, should finish it themselves,” she said.
“Actually, I, like many Lithuanian people, was tired of that tug-of-war with P. Gražulis, which lasted from the spring until now. Some meetings of the impeachment commission coincided with important events for the ruling majority. Today, somehow, the adoption of the budget also coincides with the impeachment process of Mr. Gražulis”, said A. Širinskienė.
According to her, after Tuesday’s CT ruling, questions also arise regarding the assessment of conservative Jurgita Sejonienė’s behavior.
“On the other hand, the question is now what is the situation with Mrs. Sejoniene, who has also pressed the buttons during registration. It would really be consistent that after finding out about P. Gražulis, they would also find out about J. Sejonienė”, A. Širinskienė told BNS.
J. Sejonienė has registered the then Minister of Education Jurgita Šiugždinienė to speak on the motives of the draft law.
In January, the Seimas Ethics and Procedures Commission found the conservative to have violated the rules of the Seimas and violated the ethics of politicians. J. Sejonienė claimed that she accidentally touched the computer screen of J. Šiugždinienė, who was sitting next to her in the Seimas hall, and also claimed that she had not received a request from her colleague to register her to speak because of the reasons.
The Constitutional Court stated on Tuesday that during the vote on the adoption of the work program of the autumn session of the Seimas on September 15, 2022, Mr. Gražulis consciously and intentionally voted twice – not only for himself, but also for the social democrat Linas Jonauskas sitting next to him.
According to CT, by intentionally voting for another member of the Seimas, P. Gražulis did not abide by the oath of a member of the Seimas established in the Constitution and the duty arising from the constitutional status of a member of the Seimas to respect and execute the Constitution, the laws, and honestly perform the duties of a representative of the nation.
The court noted that even a one-time vote by a member of the Seimas for another parliamentarian in a Seimas session is a prerequisite for distorting the will of the Seimas.
After this decision, the parliament will have to vote on depriving Mr. Gražulis of his mandate. At least 85 out of 141 MPs must vote for the mandate to be lifted.
If Mr. Gražulis’s mandate were revoked in this case, he would not be able to run for the Seimas, the presidents, or hold positions that require taking a constitutional oath for ten years.
However, the parliamentarian has the right to renounce the mandate of the parliamentarian at any time before the vote.
Mr. Gražulis said on Tuesday after the CT decision that he did not intend to do so and was waiting for the vote of the Seimas on his mandate.
In November, the Seimas started the second impeachment process against Mr. Gražulis. The basis for this was the judgment of the Supreme Court of Lithuania that in 2015-2017 the politician acted in the interests of the frozen food production company “Judex” registered in Kaunas, illegally interfered in the activities of civil servants in Lithuania and Russia and thus abused the official position of a member of the Seimas, causing significant non-pecuniary damage to the state .
The second impeachment process is prepared in a simplified manner, that is, without referring to the conclusions of the CT. It is planned that on December 19, the Seimas should vote on the cancellation of Mr. Gražulis’ mandate on this basis.
If the member of the Seimas were to lose his powers during this impeachment procedure, the sanction of not running for the Seimas for ten years would not be valid, because the violation of the oath and the violation of the Constitution would not be established.
In addition, prosecutors have filed charges against Mr. Gražulis for publicly insulting and mocking homosexuals.
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2024-07-30 00:56:51
