10 February 2010
Ladies and Gentlemen, members of communities,
Welcome to the Conference to share your ideas on communities in Lithuania, their diversity, the current situation and future prospects, as well as their problems and new opportunities. Although community issues constitute an inseparable and vital part of all the aspects of development of civic society, too little attention and time have been devoted to this subject so far. Therefore, I have hopes that todays Conference is a signal of a real change.
It is nice and symbolic that the Seimas, which nearly twenty years ago witnessed the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania as a major political community that expressed the will of the nation, has been chosen as a venue for the Conference. In retrospect, I remember those years as a period when the major part of the nation was genuinely united by common expectations, common activities, and common resolve for independent government. Unfortunately, now, twenty years later, we are forced to admit that we need to restore the former bonds between the citizens and the Seimas and to re-establish the Seimas as a true representation of the citizens and civic communities. No matter how demanding the reality of today is, I dare say that I consider this task to be feasible. Ultimately, it is our goal.
As a Lithuanian citizen, Speaker of the Seimas, and as a representative of the conservative political power based on the values of Christian democracy, I see community as one of the core foundations of the state. Regrettably, the lack of civic and community spirit, as well as failure to act jointly and in unison, has been the major problem of self-government and one of the key problems of the entire national democratic process over the nineteen years of independence.
The roots of the problem are clear: how could anything change if the state has not implemented any more or less consistent policy on community activities so far? In the absence of such a policy, is it possible to exercise genuine self-government? We can all answer these questions perfectly well based on our experience rather than theory.
Nevertheless, we must be frank and admit that no solid community policy can work when it is implemented through a top-down approach and detached from reality and the people. If you permit my tautology, the power of the establishment and progress of communities is in the hands of communities proper. Certainly, the central authorities can and must help the local government but the beginning and the foundations of self-government will always lie in towns, villages, municipalities, and districts.
My discussions with community representatives have given me a number of ideas that could facilitate the strengthening of community spirit in Lithuania. I would like to share these proposals with you.
First, after the interpretation by the Constitutional Court is given, the law on municipal elections should be amended in order to grant community representatives with a right to take part in elections, including the administration of municipalities, on equal terms with political parties.
Second, I propose to consider the idea of changing the system of municipal elections in order to allow local residents to have their directly elected representatives not only in the Seimas but also in municipal councils.
Third, I suggest conferring the status of wards to local communities authorised to elect their chairmen and councils. The chairmen should be entitled and financially capable of directly addressing the problems of lower level local communities.
So far in my speech I have emphasised the issues of municipal communities, since they are particularly painful to a rather large number of our citizens. This does not mean, however, that other types of communities deserve less attention. As a member of the Homeland Union Christian Democrat party, I am particularly interested in focussing on religious communities, which proved to be extremely resilient over the period of the most demanding change. We definitely must preserve and support communities providing social support, such as Caritas.
It would be unfair to define the activities of religious communities in a narrow and primitive sense, merely as the activities of a closed affinity group. We could follow the example of countries with long democratic traditions of intensifying the channelling of social services and support through local and religious communities. Since these communities are closer to people, they have a better view and understanding of the real demand and proper use of those services. I am asking for your opinion and assistance in developing and implementing the system of provision of social services through communities.
As a former medical doctor I would like to urge you to think about strengthening professional or other similar societies as well, because they are aimed at improving professional skills and sharing experience.
I would like to remind you that in the framework of our election platform we proposed to draft a community law to define the procedures of establishment of communities, as well as community rights and obligations. The need for such a law is still evident. Nonetheless, the law should be agreed on and drafted by community representatives. I have already noted that the initiative of self-government should come from the citizens and nobody really needs a law that works on paper rather than in practice. I hope that the Committee on Communities to be established in the Ministry of Social Security and Labour will follow this constructive course and contribute to the strengthening of communities.
Finally, the objectives are clear, the tasks are numerous and challenging but really feasible. I welcome the participants of the Conference once again. I wish you success in your joint work and offer my sincere thanks to the organisers and participants for their active engagement in strengthening the Lithuanian state, a community that unites us all.
