Political scientists on the role of AWPL in the future

Political scientists’ opinions on the further role of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (AWPL) differ. Some believe that the party will become an informal ally of the government coalition, others that it will join the opposition.

“They will lose their seats in the government and in the Seimas, but they will still have some influence, the party will still function. If they had problems with the opposition, they would naturally become allies of the government coalition” – said the Head of the Institute of Public Policy and Administration Algis Krupavičius.

However, political scientist from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science Jūratė Novagrockienė believes that the departure from the government coalition would only untie the hands of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania and the party would start to criticise the government and complain about the discrimination more actively.

“The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania will not support the government all the time. They will do it only when it will be beneficial to them and in other cases they would join the opposition and criticise the government even more” – said Novagrockienė.

Both political scientists agree that the departure of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania from the government coalition will not have influence on the decisions of the government, because even without AWPL the coalition holds majority in the Seimas.

Together with AWPL the government coalition will have 89 out of 141 Parliamentarians, currently it has 81.