Saulius Skvernelis

Saulius Skvernelis
MP
13th Prime Minister of Lithuania
Assumed office
13 December 2016
President Dalia Grybauskaitė
Preceded by Algirdas Butkevičius
Member of the Seimas
for Karoliniškės constituency
Assumed office
14 November 2016
Preceded by Linas Balsys
Minister of the Interior
In office
11 November 2014 – 13 April 2016
President Dalia Grybauskaitė
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
Other political
affiliations		 Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union[1][2][3]
Alma mater Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

Saulius Skvernelis (born 23 July 1970) is a Lithuanian politician who has been Prime Minister of Lithuania since 2016. He is also a member of the Seimas. Previously he served as police commissioner, and he was Minister of the Interior from 2014 to 2016.

Education and work

Born in Kaunas, 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.[4]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] As a result, he was forced to resign as the Minister of the Interior, to be replaced by Tomas Žilinskas.[7]

Although not a member of the party, Skvernelis headed the electoral list of the Peasants 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 the capital Vilnius.[8]

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.[9] He was appointed as Prime Minister by President Dalia Grybauskaitė on 22 November 2016, having been confirmed by the Seimas,[10] and assumed the office on 13 December 2016, when the Seimas approved the program of the Skvernelis Cabinet.

References

  1. ↑ (in Lithuanian)"„Valstiečius“ į rinkimus vedęs S. Skvernelis laimėjo sostinės Karoliniškių apygardoje". Delfi.lt. BNS. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  2. ↑ (in Lithuanian)"S. Skvernelis ves į rinkimus Valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjungą". Delfi.lt. BNS. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "LRS Seimas: Saulius Skvernelis". LRS Seimas. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Seime prisiekė vidaus reikalų ministras S. Skvernelis". Delfi.lt. ELTA. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Saulius Skvernelis - populiariausias politikas, jis lenkia prezidentę ir premjerą". ve.lt. BNS. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Vidaus reikalų ministras S.Skvernelis nusprendė, su kuria partija eis į Seimo rinkimus". kasvyksta.lt. BNS. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "T. Žilinskas — naujasis vidaus reikalų ministras". Delfi.lt. BNS. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  8. ↑ ""Valstiečius" į rinkimus vedęs S. Skvernelis laimėjo sostinės Karoliniškių apygardoje". sekunde.lt. BNS. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Sytas, Andrius (22 November 2016). "Defense hawk Skvernelis to be new Lithuanian prime minister". Reuters. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
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
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