New Lithuanian cabinet sworn in amid defense, social fears
The cabinet of Lithuania’s Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis has been sworn into office in the country's parliament following the surprise election victory of his Peasants and Green Union Party (LPGU) in October.
The new government secured a confidence vote on Tuesday with the backing of 86 lawmakers, with three no votes and 40 abstentions, as defense concerns and social woes topped the agenda in the eurozone country that is also a member of the NATO military alliance.
The 46-year-old premier, a former police chief and interior minister, leads an administration formed by his LPGU party and the junior Social Democrats after scoring a victory with the support of mainly rural voters and pledges of fighting the high levels of alcoholism and approving a child subsidy plan.
His cabinet has also vowed to battle social inequality and stop emigration to richer Western European nations.
"We want our social inequality index to reach the EU average at least," said Skvernelis while addressing the lawmakers, noting that Lithuania was third or fourth worst within the EU in this respect.
The migration from Lithuania – a lot of it to Britain – emerged as a major campaign issue in the election after the country’s population declined from 3.5 million in 2001 to 2.9 million in 2015 amid concerns of even further reductions.
While Skvernelis led the LPGU list into the election, he has not joined the party. This is while many of his ministers are not party members either.
Meanwhile, political conservatives and liberals in the country who remain in opposition have accused Skvernelis of lacking a strategy to encourage much-needed investment in the newest eurozone member.
"The lack of ambition poses the threat that the Lithuanian economy will fall into the middle-income trap," said conservative ex-premier Andrius Kubilius.
Skvernelis has vowed to meet NATO's two-percent-of-GDP funding target by 2018.
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