President urges parties to focus on key tasks after SocDem leader rejects PM role

President Gitanas Nausėda expects the parliamentary election winners to build a coalition and agree on their key works now, his adviser has said, downplaying the Social Democrat leader’s refusal to take the prime minister’s job.

"The president is of opinion that today the main objective for the parties that won the Seimas election is not the nomination of one or another politician for one or another post, but the formation of a new ruling coalition, coordination of the tasks most important for the people of Lithuania, and the development of a government programme," Frederikas Jansonas, Nausėda’s chief communication adviser, said in a written comment to ELTA on Thursday.

MEP Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, leader of the Social Democratic Party (LSDP), announced on Wednesday evening she would not be leading the next Government. The LSDP presidium nominated deputy party leader Gintautas Paluckas for the prime minister.

"It is the fourth day after the euphoria of the election now, and the president urges the parties to concentrate on the most important tasks as they will influence the judgement of the political forces by the head of state and the people of Lithuania," he said.