More than half a dozen people gathered at the picket under the Seimas windows – they fear that the Freedom Party and its partners may add the civil union project to the Seimas agenda without prior notice. It would legalize homosexual partnerships. The picketers not only do not approve of this, but are also worried that the liberals are already pushing it through deception.
Other members of the Seimas also admit that their fellow seimen are using lies, and say that it is a dishonorable fight for a project for which there is no majority in the parliament.
The group of about 60 people near the Seimas is not at all reminiscent of the family defense march in Vilnius with a crowd of ten thousand that took place two years ago. Although both then and now, the same organizers called for protests against the partnership bill in the Seimas.
“This is a picket, not a rally, we cannot gather more than what is allowed by the current laws, which they have severely limited now, in the current law it is written that only 2 groups of up to 15 people can be gathered,” says Arvydas Daunys, a member of the “Family Movement” council. .
Representatives of the Family Movement and several other non-governmental organizations began to invite people to vote at the Seimas on Wednesday – they stated that they had information that on Thursday the parliamentarians could vote on the civil union law legalizing homosexual relations. Because there is only one, last vote left in the Seimas.
“Still, this information slips through, among other things, we also have informants from the Freedom Party, who leak little by little, not to us directly, but to the opposition, they pass it on to us,” says A. Daunys.
“This is simply a wedge for the further path to the legalization of marriages, because foreign practice also shows this, there are also judicial examples where, after the adoption of a similar law, the way to human rights courts was opened for litigation regarding the adoption of children and other human rights that are attributed to the natural rights of men and the woman’s family”, says the representative of the National Association of Families and Parents, Žydrūnė Marčiulionienė.
The gathering was also outraged by the trick of the liberals at the beginning of the week – on Monday evening, it was announced that the project was being removed from the Tuesday agenda, saying that it no longer had enough votes. But on Tuesday morning, he was reinstated. This was intended to mislead seymūns who had gone on business trips and did not support the partnership – so that they would not rush back before the start of the meeting.
“No, I don’t feel cheated, a decision was made at the meeting of coalitions of factions to remove this issue from the agenda”, assures the speaker of the Seimas, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen.
“It was a lie, wasn’t it? Is it respectable or not, because some seymūns also say that it is not very respectable. — I think that the formation of the agenda of the Seimas is a natural part of the political process, I did not participate in those adjustments, I was away, I returned only on Monday evening,” says Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, chairman of the Human Rights Committee.
But those who do not support the partnership are convinced that it was a lie and a deception of the freedmen.
“It’s not the first time that this kind of cheating has happened here, and these rulers actually use it and do it brazenly enough, and then they sit and smile like babies: we cheated,” says Aurelijus Veryga, a member of the peasant faction.
“There must be such a situation that the people’s elected representatives must all express their will, those who have received a mandate have the right to express their will, and not be artificially eliminated from the process”, asserts Laurynas Kasčiūnas, a member of the Conservative faction.
“The issue is not left to the coalition, but to the Freedom Party. You decide who you talk to, who you consult with for votes, e.g. it’s been discussed for a long time, it’s been two years, dear liberals, you go to the opposition and ask how many votes there will be, and based on that you decide when to put the issue on the agenda”, says Eugenijus Gentvilas, elder of the Liberal Movement faction.
That is why the protesters say that they can no longer believe the words of politicians regarding this project: “There was an effort to deceive and manipulate those people and, as one political classic said, “who lies, steals,” the fundamental question is whether we can trust such a government and such a coalition that so-called defends human rights through deceit and lies.”
This refers to the pre-election advertisement of Professor Vytautas Landsbergis, in which he clearly spoke about lying politicians: “The motherland desperately needs a government that does not lie. Let’s not forget the wisdom of the ancients: he who lies is a thief.”
“In politics, it’s also chess, and if you can see a few moves ahead and make a certain rocking, then why not do it?” — Even if you have to lie? — In politics, a lie is not necessarily a lie,” says Kęstutis Masiulis, a member of the Conservative faction.
Now, opponents of the partnership say they are putting safeguards in place to prevent the law from suddenly being put back on the agenda. New proposals have been registered, which will have to be discussed in the committees. But there is another barrier – after the draft is adopted, it still needs to be signed by the president. Whether he will do that is not clear.
“It is not necessary to comment at this stage, because we do not know what the final version of the law will be. When the president sees the final version of the law, which was adopted by the Seimas, then he will decide on signing it,” says presidential adviser Asta Skaisgirytė.
The civil union project, according to the liberal and homosexual communities, is a compromise version of the partnership bill. It also receives criticism from some homosexuals, who say that the rights provided for in it are not enough, and that same-sex couples also need family matters such as marriage or the possibility of adoption.
Tags: Seimas protest civil union homosexual partnerships legalized
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