Saulius Skvernelis

Saulius Skvernelis
MP
13th Prime Minister of Lithuania
Assumed office
22 November 2016
President Dalia Grybauskaitė
Preceded by Algirdas Butkevičius
Member of the Seimas
for Karoliniškės
Assumed office
14 November 2016
Preceded by Linas Balsys
Minister of the Interior
In office
11 November 2014 – 13 April 2016
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius
Preceded by Dailis Alfonsas Barakauskas
Succeeded by Tomas Žilinskas
Personal details
Born (1970-07-23) 23 July 1970
Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party Independent
Alma mater Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

Saulius Skvernelis (born 23 July 1970 in Kaunas) is a Lithuanian politician, 13th Prime Minister of Lithuania. He is also a member of the Seimas, former minister of the interior and former police commissioner.

Education and work

Skvernelis graduated from the Vilnius Technical University (now Vilnius Gediminas Technical University) in 1994 and started working at the Lithuanian police academy (now Mykolas Romeris University).

In 1998 Skvernelis started his career in the Lithuanian law enforcement system, working as a traffic police inspector in Trakai District Municipality. Gradually rising through the ranks, he became the general commissioner of the Lithuanian police on 7 March 2011.[1]

Political career

On 5 November 2014, President Dalia Grybauskaitė appointed Skvernelis as the minister of the interior, with the parliament confirming the appointment on 11 November. Skvernelis replaced Dailis Alfonsas Barakauskas in the role.[1] He was nominated to the position by Order and Justice, who were part of the ruling coalition, despite not being a member of the party.

During 2015 and 2016, Skvernelis became one of the most popular politicians in Lithuania.[2] In March 2016, Skvernelis announced he would participate in the elections to Seimas the following October on the electoral list of Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union, a party with only one seat in the outgoing parliament.[3] As a result, he was forced to resign as the minister of the interior, to be replaced by Tomas Žilinskas.[4]

As the head of their electoral list, Skvernelis led the Peasants and Greens to a surprisingly convincing victory in the elections in October. The party won 22.45% of valid votes in the nationwide constituency (finishing close second), but finished with 54 of the 141 seats in the Seimas, thanks to solid performances in single-member constituencies. Skvernelis was elected to the Seimas in the single-member constituency of Karoliniškės, in the capital Vilnius.[5]

In the subsequent coalition negotiations between Peasants and Greens, and the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, it was agreed that Skvernelis would become the Prime Minister of Lithuania.[6] He was appointed as the prime minister by President Dalia Grybauskaitė on 22 November 2016, having been confirmed by the Seimas. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Seime prisiekė vidaus reikalų ministras S. Skvernelis". Delfi.lt. ELTA. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Saulius Skvernelis - populiariausias politikas, jis lenkia prezidentę ir premjerą". ve.lt. BNS. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Vidaus reikalų ministras S.Skvernelis nusprendė, su kuria partija eis į Seimo rinkimus". kasvyksta.lt. BNS. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "T. Žilinskas — naujasis vidaus reikalų ministras". Delfi.lt. BNS. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "„Valstiečius" į rinkimus vedęs S. Skvernelis laimėjo sostinės Karoliniškių apygardoje". sekunde.lt. BNS. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Samoškaitė, Eglė (9 November 2016). "Daliai socialdemokratų piktinantis R. Karbauskis ir A. Butkevičius pasirašė koalicijos susitarimą" (in With some Social Democrats protesting and R. Karbauskis and A. Butkevičius have signed the coalition agreement). Delfi.lt. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Sytas, Andrius (22 November 2016). "Defense hawk Skvernelis to be new Lithuanian prime minister". Reuters. Retrieved 24 November 2016.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Dailis Alfonsas Barakauskas		 Minister of the Interior
2014–2016 		Succeeded by
Tomas Žilinskas
Preceded by
Algirdas Butkevičius		 Prime Minister of Lithuania
2016–present 		Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.