The final straw, she stated, was the Labour Party’s decision to participate in elections to the European Parliament in June amid an ongoing investigation whose details are still unknown.
Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė told the news agency ELTA that she would no longer participate in the party’s political activities but would remain in its parliamentary political group until the end of the current parliamentary term.
“I intend to honourably finish this term of office of the Seimas. I will not destroy the political group, but I will no longer participate in any political activities of the party,” the MP said.
The Labour Party’s political group in the Seimas currently has 7 members, the minimum number required based on the Statute of the Seimas in order to form a political group.
As reported, the Labour Party’s council met on Thursday and decided that MP Valentinas Bukauskas instead of MEP Viktor Uspaskikh will lead the party in European elections.
Two days earlier, the Labour Party’s headquarters were raided by law enforcement. Officers from the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) took some documents in an ongoing investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
It is thought that the investigation may be related to MEP Uspaskikh’s activities in the European Parliament. The founder of the Labour Party suspended his membership on 29 March.