Parliament votes for cat to make last choice on way forward for TV station
A parliament has voted to give Nuodėgulis the power over whether the director-general of a national television and radio broadcaster should be removed from her role
A parliament has voted to give a cat the final say on whether the head of the country’s national broadcaster can be removed. The moggy, named Nuodėgulis, will now have the power to vote on whether a radio and television chief is fit for purr-pose.
The unusual meow-ve happened in Lithuania, where the country’s Seimas has been debating law changes which would make it easier to dismiss the head of Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT).
The proposed changes have led to angry protests on the streets of the Baltic country, and opposition MPs have been trying to paws the overhaul.
Their latest tactic was to introduce an amendment stating LRT’s director-general could be removed before the end of their term of office if Nuodėgulis expresses a vote of no con-fur-dence.
And after the amendment was incredibly voted through, it means Nuodėgulis could have an extraordinary amount of power over the future of LRT director-general Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė.
But the ruling Social Democrat party are so keen to claw back some control that some voted in favour of the proposal – which passed by considerably more than a whisker, with 43 voting for, 23 against and eight abstentions, reports Lithuanian outlet 15min.
A final vote on the law changes was scheduled for Thursday, but was pushed back and will probably be pushed back to January, according to Politico.
In the meantime, Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda could decide to scrap the law change, thus removing the cat’s power.
Asked, whether he would do so, the furious President told Lithuanian reporters: “Veto it with the cat, or adopt it with the cat? What are we even talking about? Are we discussing a serious draft law that officially reaches the presidency, or are we telling jokes?”
Nuodėgulis, whose name means ‘charred coal’ is a black cat belonging to MP Agnė Širinskienė, of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens party. The amendment was tabled by conservative Member Dalia Asanavičiūtė-Gružauskienė in an apparent bid to frustrate the proposed changes.
One MP defended the amendment, saying they were responding “with absurdity” because it was an “absurd” situation.
“We’re all sitting here and realizing that we’re talking nonsense and that’s why it’s a little awkward,” said Ingrida Šimonytė, adding: “It’s absurd, it’s a pity, but there’s no other way to respond than with absurdity.”
The proposed overhaul came in response to a review which identified shortcomings at LRT – although it did not recommend axing the broadcaster’s director general Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė or changing the rules on doing so.
Thousands of people protested against the reforms outside parliament on Tuesday this week, with a crowd of more than 10,000 gathered the following day.
More than 140,000 people have signed a petition against the reforms, making it the most widely supported online petition in Lithuania’s history.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .
