Saulius Skvernelis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saulius Skvernelis

MP PM
Saulius Skvernelis.jpg
Skvernelis in 2016
Leader of the Opposition
In office
25 March 2021 – 10 September 2021
Preceded byGabrielius Landsbergis (2020)
Succeeded byTBA
16th Prime Minister of Lithuania
In office
22 November 2016 – 11 December 2020
PresidentDalia Grybauskaitė
Gitanas Nausėda
Preceded byAlgirdas Butkevičius
Succeeded byIngrida Šimonytė
Member of the Seimas
Assumed office
13 November 2020
ConstituencyMulti-member
In office
14 November 2016 – 12 November 2020
Preceded by
Succeeded byRadvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė
ConstituencyKaroliniškės
Minister of the Interior
In office
11 November 2014 – 13 April 2016
Prime MinisterAlgirdas Butkevičius
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Personal details
Born (1970-07-23) 23 July 1970 (age 51)[1]
Kaunas, Lithuania
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Farmers and Greens Union (2016-2021)
Spouse(s)Silvija Skvernelė
Children2
EducationVilnius Gediminas Technical University
Net worthUS$0.2 million[2]

Saulius Skvernelis (born 23 July 1970) is a Lithuanian politician who served as prime minister of Lithuania between 2016 and 2020. He is currently a member of the Seimas. Previously he served as police commissioner, and was Minister of the Interior from 2014 to 2016.

Education and work[]

Born in Kaunas, Skvernelis graduated from the Vilnius Technical University in 1994 and started working at the Lithuania Police Academy.

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.[3]

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 in the role.[3] He was nominated to the position by Order and Justice, which was 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.[4] In March 2016, Skvernelis announced he would participate in the October 2016 elections to the Seimas on the electoral list of Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, a party with only one seat in the outgoing parliament.[5][6][7][8] As a result, he was forced to resign as the Minister of the Interior, to be replaced by .[9]

Although not a member of the party, Skvernelis headed the electoral list of the Farmers and Greens, leading them 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 Vilnius.[10]

In the subsequent coalition negotiations between Farmers and Greens and the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, it was agreed that Skvernelis would become the Prime Minister of Lithuania.[11] He was appointed as Prime Minister by President Dalia Grybauskaitė on 22 November 2016, having been confirmed by the Seimas,[12] and assumed the office on 13 December 2016, when the Seimas approved the program of the Skvernelis Cabinet. On 14 February 2018, appearing at an LGBT rally in Vilnius, he called on the Seimas to recognise same-sex partnerships.[13]

Work as General Commissioner[]

On 25 February 2011, Skvernelis was assigned as the General Commissioner of Police of Lithuania.[14] He was heavily criticised in 2012, while implementing court ruling, police transferred a girl back to the custody of her biological mother with the help of 240 police officers.[15] Earlier the girl had been testifying against the mother in a pedophilia case, which created big tensions in the society.[16]

Honours[]

Foreign honours[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Prime Minister: Mr. Saulius Skvernelis". ministraspirmininkas.lrv.lt (in Lithuanian). Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  2. ^ "D.Grybauskaitės turtas per metus sumenko beveik 300 tūkst. eurų, turtingesnis netapo ir S.Skvernelis". 15min.lt.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Seime prisiekė vidaus reikalų ministras S. Skvernelis". Delfi.lt. ELTA. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Saulius Skvernelis – populiariausias politikas, jis lenkia prezidentę ir premjerą". ve.lt. BNS. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Vidaus reikalų ministras S.Skvernelis nusprendė, su kuria partija eis į Seimo rinkimus". kasvyksta.lt. BNS. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  6. ^ ""Valstiečius" į rinkimus vedęs S. Skvernelis laimėjo sostinės Karoliniškių apygardoje" (in Lithuanian). Delfi.lt. BNS. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  7. ^ "S. Skvernelis ves į rinkimus Valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjungą" (in Lithuanian). Delfi.lt. BNS. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  8. ^ "LRS Seimas: Saulius Skvernelis". LRS Seimas. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  9. ^ "T. Žilinskas — naujasis vidaus reikalų ministras". Delfi.lt. BNS. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  10. ^ ""Valstiečius" į rinkimus vedęs S. Skvernelis laimėjo sostinės Karoliniškių apygardoje". sekunde.lt. BNS. 23 October 2016. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  11. ^ Samoškaitė, Eglė (9 November 2016). "Daliai socialdemokratų piktinantis R. Karbauskis ir A. Butkevičius pasirašė koalicijos susitarimą" [With some Social Democrats protesting, R. Karbauskis and A. Butkevičius have signed the coalition agreement] (in Lithuanian). Delfi.lt. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  12. ^ Sytas, Andrius (22 November 2016). "Defense hawk Skvernelis to be new Lithuanian prime minister". Reuters. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  13. ^ Bellamy-Walker, Tat (15 February 2018). "Lithuanian Prime Minister Wants Same-Sex Partnerships Law" – via www.thedailybeast.com.
  14. ^ "S.Skvernelis: policija turės imuniteto tarnybą ir kontrolinį būrį". DELFI.
  15. ^ Jackevičius, Mindaugas. "Garliavos drama: mergaitė perduota motinai L.Stankūnaitei, aistros verda". DELFI.
  16. ^ "Lietuvai gresia pedofilijos skandalas". DELFI.

External links[]

Seimas
Preceded by
 Member of the Seimas for Karoliniškės
2016–2020 		Succeeded by
Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė
Political offices
Preceded by
 Minister of the Interior
2014–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Algirdas Butkevičius 		Prime Minister of Lithuania
2016–2020 		Succeeded by
Ingrida Šimonytė
Retrieved from ""