"I tried to explain what problems this coalition might face. I think a mistake was made and in coming weeks the coalition will have to keep proving that it was not a mistake," Nausėda told reporters Monday.
Despite criticism, including from foreign partners, after parliamentary elections in October the LSDP has created a coalition not only with Democrats For Lithuania but also with the Nemunas Dawn.
Moreover, the president vows not to appoint ministerial candidates nominated by the Nemunas Dawn. According to Nausėda, he told Social Democratic leaders that the Nemunas Dawn should not even put forward its members as ministerial candidates because he would not appoint them. Instead, the party may nominate "technocratic candidates".
"I am not sure what self-respecting people would like to associate themselves with the other party’s leader. If there are such, we will discuss," said Nausėda.
In addition, the president pointed out that there might be some hurdles for the implementation of the coalition agreement when forming the Government. He said this would be nothing personal but in his belief it was a mistake to form the coalition with the Nemunas Dawn.
Furthermore, Nausėda noted the overwhelmingly negative foreign reaction of the Nemunas Dawn being in power. He does not rule out that this might affect relations with foreign partners.
"Some matters may be solved slower. (...) If we used to able to address concrete issues at once, now it could be that in the first part of a conversation we may have to explain what is happening in Lithuania and what powers are forming the political agenda," he said.
Meanwhile, Žemaitaitis told ELTA that he was not offended by the president’s comments because the president is the one who approves ministers. According to him, technocratic candidates would be discussed with the president. "This is natural. This is not the first time," he said.
On Thursday, a rally Ten Minutes of Silence will be held outside of the parliament building in protest of the coalition with the Nemunas Dawn.
Former president Dalia Grybauskaitė is among the critics of the new coalition.
"I urge the Social Democrats to come to their senses. I always thought of the Social Democratic Party as a party of responsible politicians. Unfortunately, I can assess the coalition that is being formed currently as the coalition of the Kremlin smell with a flavour of fascist-like brownshirts," Grybauskaitė wrote in a Facebook post.