10 September 2007
Dear Colleagues, Dear Guests,
We have just gathered in the new
chamber of the Seimas. We are in good mood and thrilled, and having conceived
new ideas of doing something good.
All elements of this light hall are in harmony; there are no sharp
corners and no contrasting colours. This makes me believe that the
representatives of our nation will reach some unity and some consolidation of
their thoughts. I wish the verse of our National Song “Light and truth all
along guide our steps forever” were more often heard in our minds and as a
conclusion in this hall.
I believe all of you had a good
rest either in our homeland or abroad, in a city or a village, on land and at
sea in summer. Beautiful landscapes or memories of foreign countries should be
the source of energy to all the members of our Nation’s representation.
Having been elected to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, we
must ensure that stability, high quality of life and reliability are the
characteristics of our nation’s and our state’s life. Several hundred
drafts are waiting for our attention this session, which means our work must be
highly efficient and effective.
*****
The agenda of the Seimas autumn
session basically meets the expectations of the nation as urgent problems are
reflected there. We will have to deal with a number of political, economic and
social problems and consider and adopt legal acts for their resolution. We will
not forget legislation on the business environment and on the protection of the
public interest. Several dozen laws will be passed in order to further
harmonise our national legislation with the EU law.
I will now highlight a few
priority challenges we will have to address. A reform in the area of
education and studies is a sensitive matter to students and teachers, while
taxation is of particular importance to small and medium-sized business.
Self-government and functioning of courts are also calling for legislators’
attention. We are concerned, no, horrified by statistical data on road
accidents, therefore we must attend the matter urgently.
I guess parliamentary debates
on the budget for 2008 will be passionate and we must be able to put party
ambitions aside and acknowledge that the development of the social
infrastructure and the possibility for Lithuania to adopt the euro will largely
depend on how efficiently the funds of the next year’s budget will be
distributed. We must never lose sight of the introduction of the euro as the
main goal of our European integration. Forecasts suggest the record high budget
revenue of LTL 28 billion. I hope our wisdom and experience will help us focus
on the Lithuanian people’s hopes for the future and take justified, balanced
and just decisions. I believe we will do so.
Taxation policy makes a
direct impact on the budget. The public is still engaged in passionate
arguments for and against a progressive personal income tax. You know there are
various proposals for taxing personal income, changing a non-taxable minimum
among them. All options will be examined. The benefit of the previous law will
be tangible from the New Year when the personal income tax rate will go down to
24 per cent. Disposable income will grow – a small step towards dealing with
social exclusion.
A few words about “small”
business. This form of business is responsible for developing the middle
class, the economically independent people, the civil society if you like.
Promotion of small business implies conditions for an individual to earn for a
living and thus for eradicating poverty. Lithuanian small and medium-sized
business does not enjoy favourable development conditions yet, which is
particularly true about starting a business. One doesn’t need exceptional
management skills or large funds to start a small enterprise. And while
Lithuanians set up enterprises in the UK and Ireland, we must rattle our brains
for solutions in Lithuania.
The public is aware of the problems
that have accrued in higher education. With the agreement between the
parliamentary parties reached, we are looking forward to the necessary draft
legislation during the session time. European criteria must be the guidelines
for our higher education in creating both an effective system of quality
assessment in higher education, based on the principles of the Bologna process,
and state funding to match the European level.
After the Constitutional Court
handed down its decision on dual citizenship of Lithuania, the problem
is widely discussed by Lithuanian people. Even though the necessary draft laws
have been registered, I think, the Seimas must first and foremost decide on the
way the problem should be solved. What I mean is a possibility to hold a
referendum. Besides, full assessment of the impact dual citizenship would make
should be carried out in a sense that our neighbouring countries may use our
liberal solution for their own selfish purposes.
The spring session approved the
concept of individual
appeals before
the Constitutional Court and opened the door for respective
legal acts. If they are passed, every natural and legal person will have the
right of appeal against constitutional rights and freedoms infringed. A new
wording of the Law on Courts, which will safeguard legal security and raise the
public’s trust in courts, will be deliberated during the autumn session.
The local government package
consisting of a number of laws will deal with the matters of local government.
We will soon start readings on amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government
that will result in higher responsibility of municipal council members and
operational and financial autonomy of neighbourhoods (wards). The Seimas
expects to lay its hands soon on the Draft Law on Elections to Local Government
Councils and other draft legislation to allow mayors to be elected directly by
local people.
“The war on the roads” has become a national tragedy.
Statistical data show that Lithuania loses a life in a car accident every
eleven hours. That is why we will seek to have the road safety policy as one of
the priority areas of our national security policy. The Seimas working group
has drafted a new version of the Law on Road Traffic Safety, which contains a
precondition for consistent development of the road safely policy. MPs will
debate on amendments to the Code on Administrative Offences and the Criminal
Code containing provisions on legal liability and stipulating elimination of
those who pose threat from road traffic and on an effective penalty system.
Let me remind you that beside new
laws, a few laws, adopted by the parliament at the end of this year’s
spring session and vetoed by the President, will need revisiting. Soon,
in September, we will deliberate the laws on amending the provisions of the
laws on national, presidential and European Parliament elections and on
referenda. The amendments are to follow the conclusion by the Constitutional
Court, to close the loopholes in the laws, and to provide for credible and fair
elections.
Some remarks about the
legislative process. I urge you, fellow parliamentarians and other entities
enjoying the right to initiate laws, to comply strictly with the provisions on
law making. Draft laws should be registered only in case they meet each and
every formal requirement listed under Article 135 of the Statute of the Seimas.
I believe that more stringent requirements for explanatory notes should
be placed with particular emphasis on detailed examination of each line of the
draft.
Dear Colleagues, new legislation cannot solve every problem. Let’s be
frank and admit that a number of bills registered were the response to a
particular situation or with a certain person in mind. Our work must be more
rational and should translate into absolutely necessary solutions.
Finally, I have not lost hope yet and believe that this session will be
more focused on law monitoring: how successful the enforcement
is, how timely the regulations to that end are, what their quality is, and how
effective the laws are. It is often the case when the enforcement fails and
still the Seimas is speared with criticisms for passing a “silly law”.
Responsibility for legislating is
a relatively new provision, but it should be applicable to all those who
contribute to the process of forwarding draft laws to the Seimas.
What is the responsibility of the
Members of the Seimas? You probably know the answer: attendance of the
plenary meetings. This is the traditional wish that a Speaker makes. I hope
you will hear my plea in this hall which is acoustically perfect.
There are other commitments of
course. The Seimas represents the nation; we must improve parliamentary
scrutiny and check more frequently the efficiency indicators of the laws we
adopted. The reform of the Seimas Office should also serve the purpose.
My dear Colleagues, let’s look
through these wide windows. There is Lithuania there. Shall we wish social
welfare and meaningful future to her and dignified existence to its
every citizen. Shall we wish one another active, creative and fair work. I want
to believe the new walls of our house will help us take the best solutions.
Lithuanian people are expecting them from us.
