- February 11, 2013
- 397
Tomaszewski: If government policy is not realized is it worth staying in coalition
Today, the coalitional partners will discuss the unification of the school-leaving examination in state language. The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania considers leaving the coalition if the pupils from minority schools are not going to be treated leniently during an exam. Social democrats state that they are not afraid of this kind of ultimatum.
“I’m an optimist but we’ve already declared that if the government policy is not realized, the question will arise whether we should stay in the coalition. If these matters are postponed to 2014, we will have to think it over – whether we like it or not,” said Waldemar Tomaszewski, the leader of EAPL and an MEP, in an interview with LNK.
In his opinion, half a year is long time enough to pass bills favourable for national minorities. “It’s not rush. It’s completely normal that bills are passed, let’s say, before July,” said Tomaszewski.
Sysas: We are not afraid of such ultimatums
Algirdas Sysas, the vice president of the Parliament and a social democrat, said that he was not afraid of Tomaszewski’s threats. “We haven’t discussed that neither in our faction nor in the political council. We are not afraid of such ultimatums. It’s not worth threatening us. Especially that we anticipate some changes in the policy and we’re going to put them into effect. Perhaps Tomaszewski wants to expose it all,” the vice president commented on the Tomaszewski’s statement.
Dainius Pavalkis, the Minister of Education and Science, said that several options for the unified school-leaving examination in state language are being considered. The minister added that they may consider another option, that is, the one in which students from non-Lithuanian schools will have different tasks to do on the exam.
In 2011, the previous Lithuanian government passed a new Education Act, which introduced a unified school-leaving examination for all schools in Lithuania. The Act became the bone of contention between the local Poles and Lithuanian authorities, and Between Vilnius and Warsaw.
Tłumaczenie Patrycja Olszówka w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Patrycja Olszówka the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.
