The Democrats are proposing Kęstutis Mažeika as Minister of Agriculture

The “For the Sake of Lithuania” Democratic Union is proposing Linas Kukuraitis as Minister of Health, Kęstutis Mažeika as Minister of Agriculture, and Lukas Savickas as Minister of Energy.

This was announced on Friday by the Democrats’ interim leader, Virginijus Sinkevičius, following a meeting with President Gitanas Nausėda.

“The candidates are being proposed to the Prime Minister; I have agreed on these names with (Prime Ministerial candidate – BNS) Mindaugas Sinkevičius. We even discussed my visit and meeting with the President with Mindaugas, so that the names would be discussed with the President as well“, V. Sinkevičius told journalists.

“These are the candidates proposed by the Democrats, who will have to be approved by the Prime Minister as part of a joint list to be presented to the President,” he added.

All three candidates for ministerial posts are members of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group; L. Savickas is the group’s leader.

“I haven’t received any comments (from Mindaugas Sinkevičius – BNS); these are well-known people, political professionals. I believe that their work in the Government will run smoothly. These are team players who think in the national interest“, said the Democratic leader.

Following the 2024 Seimas elections, when the Cabinet of Ministers led by Social Democrat Gintautas Paluckas was formed, Lukas Savickas served as Minister for the Economy and Innovation, but he had to leave the post last year following a reshuffle of the ruling coalition, in which there was no place left for the Democrats.

Until the first reshuffle of the coalition, K. Mažeika chaired the Seimas Committee on Rural Affairs; from 2019 to 2020, he served as Minister for the Environment in Saulius Skvernelis’s government.

At that time, Linas Kukuraitis served as Minister for Social Security and Labour in Saulius Skvernelis’s government from 2016 to 2020.

V. Sinkevičius does not believe that L. Kukuraitis will face any challenges in changing his field of work. “I have no doubt whatsoever that he will cope brilliantly,” said the politician.

According to V. Sinkevičius, the President did not make any comments regarding the candidates. “We spoke more with the President about priorities, about certain initiatives that have already been launched, and the President emphasised that continuity in certain areas is very important,” said the leader of the Democrats.

“Ministerial candidates are important, but we must not forget strong candidates for deputy ministers, because when we talk about the Presidency (of the Council of the EU – BNS), ministers will not be able to manage everything, this is one of the President’s priorities,” he said.

As reported by BNS, a new ruling majority has been formed and M. Sinkevičius’s government is being put together following the Social Democrats’ termination of their agreement with “Nemuno aušra”.

In mid-June, the agreement for the new governing coalition was signed by the leaders of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Union “For the Sake of Lithuania” and the Lithuanian Peasants’, Greens’ and Christian Families’ Union. This coalition holds 75 seats in the Seimas.