The vice-president of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania on behalf of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (AWPL) Jarosław Narkiewicz: “The President has started the presidential campaign”

The actions and statements made by President D. Grybauskaitė imply that she has already started the presidential campaign – thinks the vice-president of the Seimas on behalf of AWPL Jarosław Narkiewicz. 

L24.lt: You are now in Chicago, attending the Polish-American Business Summit and the conference on biotechnology. Please tell about your impressions from this working visit in the USA.

J. N.: The visit is still in progress. Both undertakings that I’m attending are extremely important. For instance, the representatives from over 40 countries take part in the conference on biotechnology. The Business Summit is organized by the Polish community abroad in America, however, the representatives of the Lithuanian community also participate in it. I’ve attended Mass which has been celebrated in a district dwelled by Lithuanians, I have also had a meeting with the consul general of the Republic of Lithuania.

L24.lt: Last week, the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė criticized the directive of the Minister of Education and Science Dainius Pavalkis concerning concessions in this year’s Matura exam in Lithuanian for pupils from national minorities’ schools. How do you assess such reaction of the Lithuanian President?

J. N.: I assess it negatively. Apparently, the President has already started the presidential campaign and by means of populistic statements she is trying to improve her rating. The lack of reaction to over 60 thousand of signatures gathered in the protection of Polish education in Lithuania is strange. Then, we had raised the issue that the change of the Education Act may lead to the situation like now. A year ago, the President did not stand up for the citizens’ rights, and now she starts dividing the society. A question arises whether it is not an attempt to influence the court. As we know, the conformity of the Education Act to the Lithuanian Constitution is being examined by the Constitutional Court. The verdict is to be reached in a few months, so I think that giving such opinion before a ruling is biased and unbecoming of the head of state.

L24.lt: Recently, social and information portal L24.lt has been started. It will be one of the first 4-language portals in Lithuania which will inform about the most important events in Lithuania and abroad, round-the-clock and live. How do you assess the initiative to build such  website?

J. N.: Positively – as any new medium that informs the society. It is not a secret that the Lithuanian media are often biased, especially when assessing the situation of national minorities living in Lithuania. This is reflected in providing negative and – very often – false information. The existence of an independent portal that aims to expose objectively the lives of Lithuanian citizens, including the Poles in Lithuania, is positive.

L24.lt: Thank you for your time and we look forward to your cooperation.

Source: http://l24.lt/en/polityka/item/9541-wiceprzewodniczacy-sejmu-rl-jaroslaw-narkiewicz-„prezydent-rozpoczela-kampanie-wyborcza”

Tłumaczenie Barbara Rożek w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Barbara Rożek within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.