The Lithuanian government led by Inga Ruginienė has resigned. The decision was made at a morning cabinet meeting on Monday.
“Today we are deciding to resign and return the government’s powers to the President of the Republic. <…> The decision has been made”, Ruginienė said, according to LRT.
The resignation follows a revision of the coalition agreement and is largely a technical step. It became known last week that the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party would renew the government coalition with the Union of Greens and Peasants and the For Lithuania party. Nemunas Dawn has been excluded from the coalition. The new government is expected to be headed by Mindaugas Sinkevičius, the leader of the Social Democrats.
Ruginienė’s cabinet will continue to serve in a caretaker capacity until a new government is appointed.
Following the decision, the incumbent prime minister will submit her resignation to President Gitanas Nausėda. Once he signs the relevant decree, the entire government will be dismissed. The president will then be able to appoint one of the ministers as acting prime minister until a new government is formed.
At the same time, Mindaugas Sinkevičius’s nomination for the post of prime minister must still be agreed with the president. After selecting a candidate, the head of state will submit the nomination to the Seimas, which must approve the prime minister. Following the vote, the new prime minister will have 15 days to form a cabinet and obtain presidential approval for its composition. The programme of the new government will also require approval by the Seimas. No major reshuffle is expected in the renewed cabinet.
