Lithuania's Parliamentary Speaker Viktoras Pranckietis on Friday urged Romas Valentukevičius, the head of the Chief Official Ethics Commission, to resign.
Romas Valentukevičius
© DELFI / Tomas Vinickas

"No," Pranckietis told journalists after meeting with Valentukevičius on Friday when asked about his suitability for the post.

Pranckietis said he had been asked by the official watchdog chief to give him time to decide but confirmed he would initiate a dismissal proceedings, if resignation is not received within a certain period of time.

Valentukevičius pledged to make his mind up by Tuesday, stressing he had not made mistakes or violated laws by his unilateral decision not to open a probe into the situation of the ruling Lithuanian Peasant and Green Union's MP Greta Kildišienė who drove a car leased from Agrokoncernas.

The parliamentary speaker's position is that the commission's chief had affected the reputation of the Chief Official Ethics Commission.

Valentukevičius said in his response to Kildišienė that the circumstances where her close relative had concluded an automobile leasing contract with Agrokoncernas, a private company owned by LPGU leader Ramūnas Karbauskis, and let her drive the vehicle "was not a conflict of interests in itself."

The expensive automobile was leased by Kildišienė's mother. Kildišienė announced at the peak of the scandal that the lease contract had been terminated.

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