Irena Segaloviciene, who has been the chief economic and social policy advisor to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, has now been appointed as the country’s new auditor general.
In a secret parliamentary ballot on Tuesday, 69 MPs voted for her appointment, 25 were against it, seven abstained, and four ballots were declared to be invalid.
Segaloviciene will succeed Mindaugas Macijauskas, whose five-year term as auditor general ended on the same day when the vote was taken.
“Areas in which I will strive to uphold the highest standards at the National Audit Office include the agency’s independence, effectiveness, accountability and transparency,” Segaloviciene told members of Parliament in advance of their vote.
“I will work honestly courageously, responsibly and professionally in defence of the interests of the Lithuanian state and its citizens,” she added.
Segaloviciene was nominated to the post by President Nauseda.
Mindaugas Linge, chairman of the opposition and conservative Homeland Union/Lithuanian Christian Democrats political block, declared in advance of the vote that the president’s nomination reflected a double standard.
Linge argued that political neutrality is crucial for the Audit Office, and so the nomination raises concerns about how such principles would be upheld.
“A stick has two ends, and the presidential office climate control system can heat and cool,” the opposition leader explained. “Some people will get chilled, while others will receive warm posts through political appointments.”
Another conservative MP, Jurgis Razma, wondered why Macijauskas was not considered for a second term, pointing toward improvements in the work of the office.
“I thought we had reached a point of political maturity in our state at which a well-performing director could expect a second term,” he said.
Liberal MP Simonas Kairys also said that he would not support the nomination. His political group met with the nominee, and Kairys says that members were not convinced that she would be able to resist political pressures that might arise.
Nauseda responded to opposition criticisms by saying that he will not interfere in the work of Segaloviciene, and she pledged that her aim will not be to please her former boss.
In the nomination document, President Nauseda argued that his advisor is a capable professional who, as auditor general, will work to ensure that public funds are spent effectively and tat the National Audit Office is more actively involved in the preparation of the national budget with a set of higher-quality recommendations.
Source: BNS
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