Key work programme of the autumn session of the Seimas presented

Press release, 10 September 2018

On 10 September 2018, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, and Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis presented to the Seimas the key work programme of the fifth (autumn) session.

When informing the Seimas of the priorities of the work programme, Mr Pranckietis underlined that approval of the 2019 budgets of the state, municipalities, the State Social Insurance Fund, and the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund was one of the most important tasks in implementing the Government’s programme. “These budgets will continue to be geared towards the reduction of social exclusion, i.e. increasing the child’s money and financial assistance for young families to acquire their first home,” said the Speaker of the Seimas.

Mr Pranckietis stressed that the autumn session would aim to amend the Constitution in order to grant people the constitutional right to bring the matter before the Constitutional Court, i.e. to establish an individual complaint mechanism. The Seimas will also have to set the dates for the presidential, municipal, European elections, “do its homework” with regard to the referendum on retaining nationality, and decide on holding the referendum on reducing the number of members of the Seimas, i.e. provide Lithuanian nationals with the opportunity for dealing with this controversial issue.

“The programme also includes particularly sensitive issues such as spelling of forenames and surnames in personal documents and the Istanbul Convention,” said the Speaker of the Seimas inviting for a constructive debate.

“We will continue to improve the model of management of higher education institutions and of funding of studies, so that students receive quality education and the state money is used for meeting the needs of the state, i.e. those of all our people. A strong focus will be put on improving the quality and accessibility of health care services and cutting down prices of pharmaceuticals. The agenda will further include the efforts to reduce and prevent corruption and to ensure the transparency of policies,” the Speaker of the Seimas listed the main tasks of the session.

Mr Pranckietis stated that the autumn session would include the motions to fundamentally change the system of financing of political parties, provide for uniform social security guarantees for persons taking care of the disabled at home, improve and correct the legal regulation of social enterprises with a view to ensuring the effectiveness and control of the state aid for them, and adopt and launch the 2018–2030 Policy Strategy for Demography, Migration and Integration, which contains a proposal to work out possible solutions to improve the living and working conditions of families and the elderly in Lithuania.

The Speaker of the Seimas stressed that the session will include discussions on strategic topics such as the future of the European Union, Lithuania’s position, and the reduction of social exclusion. He also said that active parliamentary scrutiny will be continued by inviting the Government’s members and representatives of the institutions accountable to the Seimas to provide information on implementation of the adopted legislation.

Following the approval of the draft resolution on the work programme after its submission at the Seimas sitting, the work programme of the session will be deliberated at the committees and political groups*.

The registered draft work programme contains about 600 draft laws (excluding the accompanying legislation), out of which 118 are proposed by the Government, 11 by President Dalia Grybauskaitė, and almost 300 by members of the Seimas (political groups).

* At the sitting of 18 September 2018, the Seimas approved the work programme of the autumn session, which contains about 600 draft laws (excluding the accompanying legislation). The resolution of the Seimas (draft No XIIP-2482(2)) was approved by 72 votes in favour, with 8 against and 29 abstentions.

Rimas Rudaitis, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]