Skvernelis Cabinet

Skvernelis Cabinet
2016–2020
Date formed	December 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Date dissolved	December 11, 2020 (2020-12-11)
People and organisations
Head of state	Dalia Grybauskaitė (2016–2019) Gitanas Nausėda (2019–2020)
Head of government	Saulius Skvernelis
Member parties	54 / 141 Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union 17 / 141 Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (2016–2017) 57 / 141 Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union 11 / 141 Social Democratic Labour parliamentary group (2017–2018) 57 / 141 Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union 11 / 141 Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (2018–2019) 49 / 141 Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union 12 / 141 Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania 8 / 141 Electoral Action of Poles 7 / 141 Order and Justice (2019) 49 / 141 Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union 12 / 141 Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania 8 / 141 Electoral Action of Poles (2019–2020)
Status in legislature	Majority (2016–2017 and 2019) Minority (2017–2019 and 2019-2020) supported by the Order and Justice (2018–2019); parliamentary group "For the Welfare of Lithuania" (2019–2020); Christian Union (2020)
Opposition parties	31 / 141 Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats 14 / 141 Liberal Movement 8 / 141 Order and Justice (2016–2017) 32 / 141 Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats 14 / 141 Liberal Movement 8 / 141 Order and Justice 5 / 141 Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (2017–2018) 36 / 141 Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats 10 / 141 Liberal Movement 9 / 141 Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (2018–2020)
Opposition leader	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen (2019),[1] Julius Sabatauskas (2019–2020),[2] Gabrielius Landsbergis (2020)[3]
History
Election	2016
Legislature term	Twelfth Seimas
Predecessor	Butkevičius Cabinet
Successor	Šimonytė Cabinet

Skvernelis Cabinet was the 17th cabinet of Lithuania since 1990. At the end of its term, it consisted of Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, who served as the Head of Government, and 14 government ministers from the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, and Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance. In the beginning, the Social Democratic Party was a member of the coalition, while the Social Democratic Labour Party had not been formed yet and the Electoral Action of Poles was not a member of the coalition. The Order and Justice party joined the coalition in 2019 before dissolving itself.

After the parliamentary elections in 2016, President Dalia Grybauskaitė appointed Saulius Skvernelis, an independent politician who had led the electoral list of Peasants and Greens Union, as the Prime Minister on 22 November 2016. The cabinet received its mandate on 13 December 2016.^[4]

On April 22, 2017, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania elected its new chairman, Gintautas Paluckas. After his election, Gintautas Paluckas stated that he would seek to change the coalition agreement that was made in the winter of 2016.^[5] By the summer of 2017 the disagreements between the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania on various issues (most notably on public forest enterprises) became more pronounced. In July 2017 the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania announced that it would conduct opinion polling in district branches on whether or not to remain in the coalition. Final results were released on September 23, 2017.^[6]

The majority of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania district branches voted to withdraw from the coalition, but the majority of the party's members in the Seimas (10 out of 17 members) disagreed with this decision. Because of this, 12 out of 17 members of the parliamentary group formed a new political group and re-entered a coalition with the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union.^[7] The new coalition because a minority government as only 69 members of Parliament out of 141 were members of the coalition.

By the end of 2017, the 12 members who defected from the Social Democratic Party formed the new Social Democratic Labour parliamentary group. On March 24, 2018, this parliamentary group became the new Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania. On April 24, 2018, this party and the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union formed an official coalition.^[8]

By the summer of 2018 negotiations started between the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, the Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, and the Order and Justice party considering possible cooperation between them. On September 11, 2018, those parties signed a confidence and supply agreement. On May 29, 2019, the Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania and Order and Justice chairmen Gediminas Kirkilas and Remigijus Žemaitaitis announced to the public that talks about expanded coalition between these parties and Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union had started.^[9] On June 7, 2019, Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance council agreed that the party should also join these talks,^[10] which were concluded on July 5, 2019.^[11]

The new coalition lasted just for two months as the Order and Justice parliamentary group dissolved itself on September 10, 2019, when the majority of the Order and Justice parliamentary group's members founded a new parliamentary group called "For the Welfare of Lithuania" (which existed until mid-January 2020).^[12] On September 19, 2019, this parliamentary group signed a confidence and supply agreement with coalition's parties. On October 23, 2019, the Order and Justice group had been expelled from coalition.^[13] In spring, the members of the "For the Welfare of Lithuania" group joined the parliamentary groups of either Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union or Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania.

On May 7, 2020, the Christian Union (consisting of 2 former members of the Homeland Union) decided to support the government.^[14]

Because the government was reaffirmed without the approval of its programme, the Constitutional Court of Lithuania ruled that the Constitution of Lithuania was breached. However, the ruling would not be officially announced until December 23 in order to allow the government to finish serving its term.^[15]

• Website of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania