Off the wire
• 1st LD-Writethru: UNFPA chief highlights gender equality in global sustainable development  • Chinese currency gains importance in Latin America: experts  • UNAIDS says 149,000 Namibians on antiretroviral treatment  • Serbia decreases targeted inflation due to increased economic activity  • Young women at high risk of HIV in Southern Africa: report  • Lebanese president invited to visit Saudi Arabia  • Number of Bulgarian tourists grows by 19.1 pct in Q3  • Macedonia launches code of judicial ethics for judges  • 1st Ld-Writethru-China Focus: China pledges to further promote global health  • Nigeria declares 55 Boko Haram fighters wanted  
You are here: 　 Home

Lithuanian president urges parliament not to delay important decisions

Xinhua, November 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

More than half the members of the Lithuanian parliament (Seimas) are newly elected, offering a chance to renew the country's political system and make it more transparent, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said Monday.

After meeting with the parliament's new speaker Viktoras Pranckietis, the president said the first challenge for the new Seimas is the adoption of the 2017 budget, according to a statement released after the meeting.

"Social needs and the state's possibilities must be reflected in the budget. Moreover, it should not breach the constitutional law on fiscal compact," Grybauskaite was quoted as saying in the statement.

She urged Seimas not to delay amendments to the country's new labor code in order to guarantee up-to-date labor relations and workers' security.

Speaker Pranckietis said the new government will decide early December how fast and what amendments should be done to the labor code.

The Lithuanian Seimas adopted a new labor code in June this year, due to come into effect as of Jan. 1, 2017. However, the Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union, the surprise winner in the late-October general election, suggested the implementation of the code be delayed by six months.

The labor code, together with accompanying amendments to secondary legislation, is one of the seven packages needed for building the new social model aimed at improving the regulation of labor relations.

Meanwhile, presidential advisor Mindaugas Linge said Grybauskaite also expects a renewal of the term of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), ELTA news agency reported.

"According to the president, the Seimas will have to show its will when forming a new CEC in order to make the political process more transparent. The CEC is expected to be renewed to ensure efficient organization of elections," Linge was quoted as saying.

The constitution of Lithuania stipulates that the Seimas forms the CEC and alters its composition. Enditem