Today we'll find out whether Robert Duchniewicz will be prime minister. Are Lithuanians ready for a Polish prime minister?
Last week, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas resigned after being reminded by investigative journalists of several embarrassing past cases. He was forced to resign by his coalition partners. He had been in power for less than eight months.
For several days, regional branches of the Social Democratic Party, which has 52 members of parliament in the 141-seat Sejm, have been debating who should replace Paluckas. It's considered certain that the new prime minister will come from this party. It will be at least another dozen days before the party takes office, during which it will first be necessary to agree on whether the coalition will remain in its current composition. The prime minister is appointed by the president, who must approve the new government, which has 15 days to present.
As "Rzeczpospolita" has learned, President Gitanas Nausėda wanted the Social Democrats to choose Mindaugas Sinkevičius, who has been temporarily leading their party since Paluckas's resignation. However, Sinkevičius, the mayor of the Ivanava district, announced at the last minute that he was not running. According to Lithuanian media, he enjoyed the greatest support from the Social Democratic Party's regional branches.
Sinkevičius cryptically explained that he made the decision "after serious consideration" and in consultation with his family. However, he was most likely afraid that investigative journalists who had been digging into Paluckas's past would also investigate him. It is well known that a scandal prevented Sinkevičius from holding important government positions and running for election. Last year, he was convicted by a district court of fraud and document forgery. This year, the Supreme Court dismissed his case but confirmed that violations had occurred. Sinkevičius, like Paluckas, is giving the opposition a chance to portray the Social Democrats as swindlers.
Three candidates remain in the running, and according to our information, they have received similar support from regional branches. Among them is Robert Duchniewicz, the party's deputy chairman, who led the Social Democrats' campaign—which turned out to be a success—in the parliamentary elections last year.
This nearly 34-year-old politician is the informal leader of Lithuanian Poles who are critical of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (AWPL), sometimes called the "Polish party." Two years ago, he unexpectedly defeated the AWPL candidate in the mayoral elections for the Vilnius district (bordering the capital on three sides), previously a stronghold of the "Polish party."
"If I have to take responsibility, I will," Duchniewicz told "Rzeczpospolita" on Friday. He admitted he faces a dilemma, because resigning as mayor of the Vilnius region would affect the fate of "thousands of people." In snap elections, which would have to be held, the EAPL (Eagle's Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania) could regain complete control of the region. It currently holds a majority of councilors there anyway. Mayor Duchniewicz, in fact, has two deputies from the EAPL.
Would Lithuanians accept a Pole as prime minister? "I'm afraid they haven't matured enough for that yet."Poles have served as ministers in the Lithuanian government, both from the EAPL (when it was in coalition) and from other parties, including the Social Democratic Party. However, a Pole has never held such a high-ranking position as head of government. Given the tensions surrounding the rights of the Polish minority, which have led to crises in Warsaw's relations with Vilnius in the past, one might ask whether Lithuanians are ready for a Polish prime minister.
"I'm afraid the Lithuanian nation isn't ready for this yet," one of the most prominent Poles in Lithuania tells me, requesting anonymity. He adds that Lithuanian media don't emphasize Duchniewicz's nationality, but the version they present about Duchnevič suggests he's Polish.
"Perhaps if it were a presidential election, the fact that he's Polish would be a problem. But when it comes to ministers, the nationality factor hasn't played a role for years, and it's probably the same with the head of government ," Prof. Šarūnas Liekis, a political scientist at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, tells "Rzeczpospolita. "
– I suspect that President Nausėda, who has nationalist tendencies, would be the most dissatisfied with a Polish prime minister – emphasizes Andrzej Pukszto, a political scientist and Lithuanian Pole, in an interview with “Rzeczpospolita”.
Robert Duchniewicz's rivals. Minister Inga Ruginienė and veteran Juozas OlekasDuchniewicz's rivals are I nga Ruginienė, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, and Juozas Olekas, First Deputy Speaker of the Seimas. Ruginienė, 44, has only been a member of the party for a short time, but she has long served as head of the Trade Union Confederation, and labor issues are a cornerstone of the Social Democrats' platform.
Olekas, nearly 70, is a veteran. He served as Minister of Health in Lithuania's first government after regaining independence in 1990. Back then, the Social Democrats were called post-communists. He later also held the position of Minister of Defense and was a Member of the European Parliament. He also has a case, which has been brought up in the media. In 1999, he caused a car accident that resulted in the deaths of two people.
In July, Gintautas Paluckas became the subject of investigative journalists' reports on his and his family's business activities (including loans allegedly granted because of his political position and the use of European funds), as well as the "rat" scandal from a dozen years ago, when he worked at Vilnius City Hall.
He committed fraud during a tender for pest control services. The court sentenced him to two years' suspended imprisonment and ordered him to pay a fine of €16,500, but he had been delaying payment since 2011. Investigative journalists claim he only paid the last, large installment now that they have become interested in the case.
RP
