Steponavičius: We are ready to cooperate with AWPL (Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania)

Gintaras Steponavičius, vice president of the Liberal Movement and the Minister of Education, said in the interview for the radio “Znad Wilii” that he has nothing against the coalition with the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania. 

“We share a couple of common goals with the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania. Both parties could work together. I had no doubt that AWPL will exceed the electoral threshold, especially because they can motivate their electorate. AWPL is a perfect example of a well-organized party which relentlessly pursues any defined goal”, said the Minister.

He claims that the issue of surname spelling in passports is still relevant not only to Poles in Lithuania. The Liberal Movement is in favour of original surname spelling. However, it will not be easy to reach a compromise satisfactory for both sides.

“I often stay in Puńsk or Sejny when I travel through Poland. There are not very large Lithuanian communities living there but still they enjoy the right to dual nomenclature. Personally, I am for similar rules to be introduced in Lithuania”, added Steponavičius.

“Our party, as the only one, has supported the idea of original surname spelling and dual nomenclature. Those could have been bad proposals for some voters. However, our electorate comprises of well-educated people who have their own opinion, so it should not have influenced their decisions negatively”, emphasized the Minister.

The politician was asked about the parties they could not be in a coalition with. He mentioned two parties.

“We will not form a government coalition with those two parties: ‘The Way of Courage’ (lit. Drąsos Kelias) and ‘Order and Justice’ (lit. Tvarka ir teisingumas). Also, there were investigations conducted on vote buying which have thrown discredit on the Labour Party”, said Steponavičius.

Source:  http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/litwa/steponavicius-mozemy-wspolpracowac-z-awpl.d?id=59844885

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