The seventh deputy chairman of the Parliament for the EAPL

The President of the Parliament will have seven alternates. The seat of the seventh deputy is likely to be given to the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania.

President of the EAPL, Waldemar Tomaszewski, told PL DELFI that, according to the arrangements, a member of the EAPL will be the seventh deputy chairman. “It’s been agreed. Today, the Parliament adopted the amendments to the statute in the first reading”, explained Tomaszewski.

MP Jarosław Narkiewicz is most likely to take the position of the seventh deputy chairman of the Parliament. “Yes, I’ve announced already that I will point Jarosław Narkiewicz as the candidate”, said Tomaszewski. 

The seventh deputy chairman of the Parliament?

Members of the EAPL in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, while talking with PL DELFI were more reserved in their comments. “The position of the seventh deputy chairman of the Parliament is more related to the next year’s chairmanship of Lithuania in the European Union. It is planned that this position will be given to the EAPL, but it’s a matter of further arrangements”, said Rita Tamašunienė, the EAPL’s starost in the Seimas. Tamašunienė stated only that during the coalition talks it was agreed that one of the deputy chairmen will be the EAPL’s member.

MP Jarosław Narkiewicz refused to comment on the case. “For now, the amendment creating the additional seat of the deputy chairman was adopted to the statute. This is due to the increased amount of work of the Seimas. At this stage, it is enough”, said Narkiewicz.

The change of the parliamentary statute was supported by 64 of the MPs, 12 of them voted against, 18 – abstained.

EU presidency

The need to create the seat of another deputy chairman arose because of the forthcoming Lithuanian presidency in the European Union.

Currently, the president of the Seimas, Vydas Gedvilas, has five deputies. The first one is Vytautas Gapšys of the Labour Party (Darbo partija), the others are: Social Democrats Gediminas Kirkilas, Algiridas Sysas, Kęstas Komskis (“Order and Justice” – Tvarka i teisingumas), and a representative of the opposition – Irena Degutiene, a conservative.

According to the statute, the seat of the sixth deputy chairman of the Seimas should be a member of the opposition, so the seventh position will probably be given to the EAPL.

Social Democrat Juozas Olekas hinted that the new position will be given to the EAPL. “The ruling coalition consists of four fractions, so I believe that all of them should be represented. It would be good if all of them had its deputy chairmen”, said Olekas.

Source: http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/litwa/siodmy-wiceprzewodniczacy-sejmu-dla-awpl.d?id=60094151

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