Press release, 12 December 2012

On 27 November, the Seimas approved the submitted Draft Amendment to the Statute of the Seimas No XIIP-39 “On amending Article 24 of the Statute of the Seimas” suggesting to increase the number of Deputy Speakers of the Seimas to seven (a maximum number of Deputy Speakers allowed before was six).

The Draft was presented by Ms Irena Šiaulienė, Chair of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party Political Group, who explained that the proposal was submitted in relation to the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Chair of the Political Group said that Lithuania would have a huge task, and the Presidency of the Council would be a heavy responsibility for our country. The Presidency Trio will consist of Ireland that will precede Lithuania and Greece that will take over the Presidency in the next six months to follow. “Lithuania’s goal is to ensure coherence between the EU agendas, continuity of the work started and a consistent transfer of the Presidency. I am looking forward to see all the Political Groups of the Seimas joining this responsible activity platform. This is why the proposal to increase the number of Deputy Speakers has been launched”, Ms Šiaulienė said.

The Draft was supported by 64 MPs, whereas 12 voted against and 18 abstained. The Committee on Legal Affairs subsequently took over the consideration of the draft. On 6 December, the Seimas considered the Draft Amendment to the Statute, subject to special urgency procedure, and adopted it with 73 votes for, 40 against and 4 abstentions.

Saulė Eglė Trembo, Public Relations Unit, tel: +370 5 239 6203