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To the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on Political Discrimination
We turn to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania to cease the discrimination of the Party Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania in the process of delegating Lithuanian representatives to the Committee of the Regions of the European Union after elections to local governments in 2011. The representatives of the local party EAPL were omitted in the process of delegation despite fulfilling formal requirements.
The Lithuanian authorities' activities, which were the cause the EAPL did not get any seat in the Committee of the Regions, violate democratic standards. The procedure and formalities of the emergence of Lithuanian delegation, which are contrary to the spirit of self-representation of regions and local authorities in Europe promoted by the EU, was also applied after the former local elections in 2007. Established by the order of the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, the procedure of the Lithuanian delegation emergence excludes the possibility to represent all the citizens by representatives of regional and local authorities in the Committee of the Regions. An overstated threshold of 5.56 percent was then established, although, in comparison, there is a threshold of only 4 percent in municipality elections and of 5 percent in parliamentary elections as well as in the elections to the European Parliament. Such facts make us ask why such a comparatively high threshold was required in case of the emergence of delegation to the Committee of the Regions, one of the Consultative institutions of the European Union? Everything indicates that it was done in order to eliminate one of the parties, namely the regional party Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (EAPL) which gained 5.42 % of votes during the elections to local governments in 2007 and decisively won in one of the regions. Incomprehensible is also the fact that despite the idea that the selection of representatives to the Committee of the Regions should be decided following the criteria of political, geographical as well as territorial balance (so that each region is represented), the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in fact employs nationwide criteria.
This time, after the last elections to local governments in 2011, EAPL managed to cross the election threshold. Unfortunately, the situation remained the same. During the selection procedure of Lithuanian representatives to the Committee of the Regions, EAPL was omitted again despite the fulfilment of the formal requirements.
The provisions related to the delegation of representatives to the Committee of the Regions envisage that seats of the Lithuanian delegation are distributed among the parties which have received the highest number of votes, but not less than the election threshold. After the last elections to local governments in Lithuania in 2011 the election threshold amounted to 64 589 (5.56%) votes. Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania stood for elections in Coalition with Russian Alliance under the name of Valdemar Tomasevski’s Block. According to the Central Electoral Commission, the Coalition obtained 74 548 (6.41%) votes, while EAPL as a party within the coalition received 69 401 (5.97%) votes and 1691 (0,26%) votes additionally when standing alone. Although, the outcome of the Coalition, as well as the outcome of EAPL itself as a component of the Coalition, exceeds the required minimum, neither the coalition, nor EAPL was taken into the account during the process of the composition of Lithuanian delegation in the Committee of the Regions. Parties which had crossed the required minimum of the election threshold got their seats in the delegation except for EAPL and its Coalition.
This way the party, which gained the first place in the last elections in the biggest Lithuanian region— the Vilnius region, in which one third of all citizens lives— was again deprived of representatives in the Committee of the Regions. These are obviously discriminatory actions against one of the parties, actually against Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, for purely political reasons, which thereby reduce the essence of representative democracy.
This allows us to assume that such actions of the current government of the Republic of Lithuania are intentional and aimed at excluding the representatives of the opposition regional party. Such situation is unacceptable, as it violates the basis of the European Democracy.
We turn to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania to cease the discriminatory actions directed towareds the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania. We demand the investigation of the matter and an allocation of seats in the Lithuanian delegation in the Committee of the Regions to the representatives of EAPL so that the Committee of the Regions would actually serve in bringing the European Union closer to citizens and that the 'United in Diversity' Europe could take all the advantages from its territorial, cultural and linguistic diversity, which makes its strength and wealth. We demand fair representation of Lithuanian regions in the Committee of the Regions.
Vilnius, 28th April 2012
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