1. Saulius Skvernelis had previously served as police commissioner, and was Minister of the Interior from 2014 to 2016.
20 Facts About Saulius Skvernelis
1. 2.
Saulius Skvernelis is the Speaker of the Seimas since 14 November 2024.
3.
In 1998, Saulius Skvernelis started his career in the Lithuanian law enforcement system, working as a traffic police inspector in Trakai District Municipality.
4.
Saulius Skvernelis was reportedly threatened with dismissal by members of the incumbent government, but went ahead with the operation regardless.
5.
Saulius Skvernelis conflicted with Speaker of the Seimas Loreta Grauziniene and President Grybauskaite during his term.
6.
Saulius Skvernelis was elected to the Seimas in the single-member constituency of Karoliniskes in Vilnius.
7.
Saulius Skvernelis was appointed as prime minister by President Dalia Grybauskaite on 22 November 2016, having been confirmed by the Seimas, and assumed the office on 13 December 2016, when the Seimas approved the program of the Skvernelis Cabinet.
8.
Saulius Skvernelis's premiership included creation of Child benefit, wage and pensions increase and income tax cuts.
9.
Saulius Skvernelis's Government had introduced measures that reduced freedom of the press.
10.
Saulius Skvernelis is considered a pragmatic politician who doesn't have a clear political ideology.
11.
On 14 February 2018, appearing at an LGBT rally in Vilnius, Saulius Skvernelis called on the Seimas to recognise same-sex partnerships.
12.
The cabinet regained its majority in 2019 - according to the Constitution of Lithuania, the incumbent government must be reaffirmed after a presidential election, and Saulius Skvernelis thus held negotiations with minor parties in the Seimas after the 2019 Lithuanian presidential election.
13.
However, Saulius Skvernelis only retained a majority for four months - on 13 January 2020, the "For the Welfare of Lithuania" parliamentary group disbanded, as it lost the minimum required number of seven members to continue existing.
14.
On 17 January 2019, Saulius Skvernelis announced his candidacy for the presidency.
15.
On 25 March 2021 Saulius Skvernelis was appointed to this position.
16.
In late 2021, Saulius Skvernelis left the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union political group in Seimas and formed the political group Democrats "For Lithuania".
17.
Saulius Skvernelis called Ramunas Karbauskis, the leader of LVZS, an "oligarch" and criticized his choice not to run as a candidate in the election.
18.
Saulius Skvernelis himself ran in the single-seat constituency of Lazdynai, where he lost in the run-off to then-Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas of the Homeland Union.
19.
Saulius Skvernelis nonetheless secured a seat in the multi-mandate constituency due to his position in the party list.
20.
Saulius Skvernelis was elected the Speaker of the Seimas on 14 November 2024, with 107 votes in favour and 19 against.