Opposition will seek to block passage of civil unions

The hard-to-find Civil Unions Act may not appear on the parliamentary agenda as the spring session of parliament ends on Thursday, according to Aušrinė Armonaitė, chairman of the Liberal Party. The politician made it clear that the plan to include the item, which had its final vote in parliament, was changed due to the attitude of the opposition.

“Probably not (the issue will not be on the agenda – ELTA),” A. Armonaitė told reporters after a meeting of deputies of the ruling coalition on Wednesday.

Rasa Budbergytė, the elder statesman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) parliamentary faction, assured that if the civil union law is included in the agenda of Thursday’s meeting, almost all members of her faction will not support it. She said the Social Democrats do not want to participate in the behind-the-scenes political games that take place between the rulers.

“I can’t guarantee a vote, but the fact is that others (Social Democrats – ELTA) have already decided that they will not support,” R. Budbergytė told Elta.

“Currently, the liberals are blackmailing the ruling coalition and will not support Landsberger’s candidacy for the post of EU commissioner if the coalition does not vote in favor of the project. And we, the Social Democrats, will absolutely not be a political force that plays this game and takes care of Gabriela Landsbergis’ political future,” the politician stressed.

Elders of the Social Democratic faction said it was also incomprehensible that the project’s initiators wanted to include the issue on the agenda of the last day of the parliamentary session.

“Such an important project will not be tabled on the last day of an ordinary session of Parliament. We are human too and no one will support this project tomorrow. They have been planning a holiday with their families for a long time, which is completely logical and you should not be angry with them for it. Family is as important as the work of an MP,” she stressed.

Saulius Skvernelis, a veteran of the Democratic “Vardan Lietuvos” faction in the House of Representatives, assured that if the civil union law is included in the agenda of Thursday’s parliamentary session, his faction will not participate in the vote.

“This is not a question of our political agenda. This is clearly a trade in influence. We certainly cannot participate in this process,” S. Skvernelis told Elta

“They knew very well that at least 71 people were needed. The only way to stop this process is not to gather 71 members of Congress in the hall,” he added.

The faction’s leaders assured that the Democrats’ decision not to participate in the vote would be unanimous.

“If they try to put this issue on the agenda, I hope that for the first time in our faction there will be a forced vote. “These are all members of the faction and they will not submit to a vote, if there is one … but I don’t think there will be one,” S. Skvernelis stressed.

“Those colleagues who retain a certain level of support on certain issues, I think they are very aware that this time the issue is not about Citizens United, it’s about trading in influence,” the politician said.

Members of the Lithuanian Alliance of Farmers and Greens (LVŽS) in parliament will not take part in the vote on the Civic Union, said the faction’s elder statesman Aušrinė Norkienė.

“Yes, we decided not to vote and therefore did not have the opportunity to gather 71 voters,” the politician told Elta.

This initiative will not be supported by representatives of Lithuania’s regions and members of the mixed parliament.

“I can’t speak for everyone, as we often have free votes. But from what I understand, since this law has gone through two voting stages, the majority will definitely not support it,” Rita Tamašunienė, an elder from the mixed parliamentary group, told Erte.

For his part, Eugenius Gentevilas, elder of the Freedom Movement faction in Congress, assured that the intention to include the Civic Alliance on the agenda of Thursday’s session was risky.

“It is a risky decision because all the work that has been done could collapse. It is a project that has already gone through two phases and it could fail,” the politician told Erte.

He said the possibility that the project could be rejected altogether should also be considered.

“I’m afraid that some opposition groups will unite and possibly reject the project in Congress after two stages. The chances are slim, but in theory it is also necessary”, E. Gentvilas does not hide his concerns.

He also noted that support for the initiative has not increased among the liberal movement factions.

“There have been no changes in our team. There were four people who were against the project, and that number has not decreased. We declare honestly that there have been no changes,” he admitted.

At the time, conservative elder Andrius Vishniuskas assured that the faction’s position on civil unions was clear and that support would change only minimally.

“We don’t sit down and count the votes – one bag has this many votes, the other bag has this many votes. “The number of votes in our group is known, there are two votes. There are as many votes as there are. Yes, maybe there may be a little more because some colleagues were not able to vote before, someone was sick, they were away, etc., “said A. Vyšniauskas.

“In any case, the majority of our group agrees that the civilian issue will need to be addressed sooner or later. Obviously, we will decide with our coalition partners when that will be – tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or sometime,” he added.

As announced earlier by Erta, the elder statesman of the liberal party in parliament, Vytautas Mitalas, did not rule out that the hard-to-find Civil Union bill could appear on the parliamentary agenda on Thursday. The politician testified that, as far as he knew, more MPs voted in favor of the law.

The project aims to regulate the property and personal non-property relations of persons who are not married but are entering into a mutual relationship.

After deliberation, the current National Assembly approved the civil union law project initiated by the ruling majority party. In order to pass it, lawmakers must vote again.

Admittedly, the draft law also sparked discussions about the relations of the governing coalition. Last fall, the news portal delfi.lt reported on the plan approved by the board of directors of the “Liberals”, which states that if the passage of the Law on Civil Unions fails, the party “may be forced” to block all candidates submitted by the conservatives to the European Commission. This spring, when discussions on the Lithuanian representation to the European Commission began, V. Mitaras hinted that the “Liberals” would support the candidacy of G. Landsbergis, who is considered the most realistic contender, depending on how the conservatives will “fight” for the Civic Union.