Speaking about the latest revelations, leader of the Liberal Movement Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen said this was expected and, thus, unsurprising. Nonetheless, she criticised the LSDP leader for causing voter distrust in political commitments.
Meanwhile, incumbent Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, a member of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrat party (TS-LKD), noted that the LSDP leader made many promises during the election campaign but in the end opted for a seat in the European Parliament.
"As always, it is much easier to posture from Brussels that pensions or wages are small," Šimonytė wrote in a Facebook post. "If Vilija fooled someone, these were the voters who trusted her".
Farmers and Greens (LVŽS) leader Ramūnas Karbauskis was disappointed in Blinkevičiūtė. He told ELTA that if Paluckas was projected as a would-be prime minister before elections, then the LVŽS would have garnered more votes.
Nevertheless, Karbauskis said the LVŽS would continue coalition talks with the LSDP, reiterating that the latter had to choose between his party and the Liberal Movement.
In turn, leader of Democrats For Lithuania, Saulius Skvernelis, stated that the move made by the LSDP came as a surprise despite rumours that Blinkevičiūtė would refuse to become the PM.
Skvernelis told ELTA that this was the problem of the LSDP, which would have to explain the decision to its voters.
"Let us say that the start of forming the Government does not look very nice," he said.
Meanwhile, according to Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, the LSDP leader’s refusal to become the prime minister marks a serious political crisis.
He says this is also a blow for President Gitanas Nausėda, who hoped to see Blinkevičiūtė lead the Government, held talks with her and contributed much to the Social Democratic victory.
"In my opinion, in the last 34 years a Government crisis had not happened before the Government even took the oath of office and before the Cabinet of Ministers was formed," Žemaitaitis told ELTA.