EVS issue
D. Žalimas, the former President of the Constitutional Court, says that the answer to who has to go to the European Council (EVS) lies in the basic law of the country.
President Gitanas Nausėda explains that he must travel to these meetings and that some representatives of the ruling Homeland Union, the Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), assure that the Prime Minister must do so; Ingrida Šimonytė.
The outgoing head of state also presented her position on Tuesday Dalia Grybauskaite. After G. Nausėda’s annual report, D. Grybauskaitė stated that the Constitution is on the side of the President in this matter.
Gitanas Nausėda
© DELFI / Josvydas Elinskas
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However, D. Žalimas explained that this is still a debatable issue.
“I will say this, the issue is debatable. It is not for nothing that it has been decided in some countries and at the level of the Constitutional Courts, I mean Romania and Poland. Not everything is so simple for one reason: whether EU affairs belong to foreign policy. After answering this question, we will find out who should represent Lithuania in the EVS. I think there are really areas for discussion, “he assured.
Mr Žalimas set out his position on the show, saying that a very large part of EU affairs are matters of domestic policy.
“Obviously, this can no longer be called foreign affairs, because we live in the same space with other EU countries, we live according to the same Constitution. And it is clear that the Constitution should not be understood as it was before 2004, before EU membership. And the field of foreign policy has narrowed considerably since then, “the interlocutor of the show reminded.
D. Žalimas, the former chairman of the CC, explained that he did not want to categorically state what should happen in EVS at the moment.
“I think this is a debatable issue,” he said.
G. Nausėda mentions the tradition of the president going to EVS as one of his arguments. D. Žalimas stated that she must also comply with the Constitution.
“You see, there is a Constitution and all traditions must comply with it. The CC has certainly not resolved this issue, now it is difficult for me to say to what extent that tradition complies with the Constitution, ”the former chairman of the CC assured.
Referendums are not possible on all issues
In his annual report, President G. Nausėda mentioned that “we should extend the period for collecting signatures required for a referendum, and give people the right to sign electronically”.
D. Žalimas taught that referendums on some issues simply cannot be resolved.
“I would say so – looking at what issues are meant. There are some issues that cannot be resolved by referendum at all. For example, the Constitutional Court has made it very clear that issues related to the denial of natural human rights cannot be resolved in any referendum. The majority cannot dictate to a minority or an individual what is in the air and what is not, ”said D. Žalimas, the former chairman of the CC.
The guest of the show said that if a referendum were held on the enactment of the Partnership Law, it is “very doubtful whether it would comply with the Constitution”.
Dainius Žalimas
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“Because really the majority cannot deal with the issue of natural rights that belong to every human being. But here’s a matter for further consideration. (…) And in general, I will admit, I have a negative view of the abundance of referendums. Because this is one of the definitions of political populism when used for populist purposes, “D. Žalimas shared his opinion.
He said that lowering the referendum cartel was also a “matter of political self-determination.”
Disagreements with politicians
D. Žalimas stated in the show that after this ended story he feels “as if he has escaped to freedom”.
“Now I can really say what I think and that is very gratifying. On the other hand, of course, when it comes to those 15 months, it is quite right that I had to stay for 15 months when I felt obliged. But I think we didn’t really stay in vain, a lot of significant issues have been resolved in the meantime. And this is the happiest. Certainly no one managed to get the desired decisions from the court, ”said the former chairman of the CC.
Mr Žalimas acknowledged that the situation where he had 15 months to work in this position was “not normal”.
“But the Seimas may or may not appoint a judge or official. The saddest thing is that it all lasted 15 months, it could have been faster, “he explained.
The guest of the show also had to answer questions about the influence of courts and judges. The interlocutor of the show assured that he had encountered it.
“I have faced it, there have been all sorts of attempts. (…) All the theories of conspiracy, that I supposedly combine decisions, I am attributed to one or another political force, emerged precisely after a decision unfavorable to one political force. Precisely because of the special Seimas commission of inquiry. I think it was obvious that there was a certain decision, it was questionable whether I was performing my duties legally at all. A complaint was made to the Venice Commission. It makes you smile, ”he explained.
D. Žalimas stated that there were isolated cases when the CC tried to obtain certain decisions from other representatives of the legal community.
“There have been such cases, but we have never obeyed,” said the show’s interlocutor.
Asked why politicians are trying to influence the decisions of the CC, D. Žalimas considered that due to specific interests.
“It simply came to our notice then. For example, there was an interest in the CC resolving the case of the powers of the former Government as soon as possible, out of turn. I do not know, I see only political interest in it. And who he is, I will not really start guessing, “said D. Žalimas.
The CC and the former majority of the Lithuanian Peasants ‘and Greens’ Union (LVŽS) often sparked.
“I would say that that sparking started just after that special investigation case of the Seimas. I think some politicians here are too primitive. It’s too easy for them to divide everything into white and black. And if the decision is not good for them, then the court works for another political force, “he explained.
D. Žalimas said that politicians evaluate the decisions of the CC through their prism.
“This court is not a political institution, it makes decisions not driven by political arguments,” said D. Žalimas, a guest of the program “Info Comments with Arnas Mazėčius”.
The Constitutional Court
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Delphi recalls that last summer the CC decided that the representatives of the LVŽS Agnė Širinskienė a temporary commission of inquiry headed to investigate the possible impact on decision-makers and political processes was formed in violation of the Constitution and its conclusions are illegal.
The Commission investigated three episodes that took place in 2013–2014, 2017 and 2018, related to the activities of the Chief Service Ethics Commission, the General Prosecutor’s Office, and the appeal of a group of Seimas members to the CC regarding the Law on Pension Accumulation.
After this decision, A. Širinskienė assured that such a court decision is a “conversation between the Conservatives and the Chairman of the CC”.
“What evidence? This is simply absurd. I say, here is the primitivism of politics, populism. But I can only rejoice that it has not damaged the authority of the court in any way. People are not stupid, they understand that politicians live by completely different laws than the courts. And it is customary for them to throw such accusations. I would say that there is a low political culture here, “D. Žalimas commented.
He said that if the Seimas commission was formed to investigate all political processes within 10 years, it was “obviously an impossible task”.
“The law cannot oblige to fulfill impossible reasons,” said D. Žalimas, the former chairman of the CC.
Asked about the future and whether he does not rule out the possibility of “going into politics”, D. Žalimas explained that “no possibility” can be ruled out.
“Because you really can’t know what you will do in 3-4 years,” said D. Žalimas, the former chairman of the CC, in the show “Info Comments with Arnas Mazėčius”.
You can see the full conversation here.
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