Saulius Skvernelis

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

Saulius Skvernelis MP PM
13th Prime Minister of Lithuania
In office 22 November 2016 – 11 December 2020
President	Dalia Grybauskaitė Gitanas Nausėda
Preceded by	Algirdas Butkevičius
Succeeded by	Ingrida Šimonytė
Member of the Seimas
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 November 2020
Constituency	Multi-member
In office 14 November 2016 – 12 November 2020
Preceded by	Linas Balsys
Succeeded by	Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė
Constituency	Karoliniškės
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	23 July 1970[1] Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Farmers and Greens Union
Spouse(s)	Silvija Skvernelė
Children	2
Education	Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Net worth	US$0.2 million[2]

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 Dailis Alfonsas Barakauskas 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 Tomas Žilinskas.[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

•  Poland: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (15 July 2019)

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. "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

• Media related to Saulius Skvernelis at Wikimedia Commons