“I am resigning from the TS-LKD group and suspending my party membership,” Džiugelis said Thursday on Facebook.
The politician said he did not want his “story” to interfere with his colleagues’ preparations for the Parliament's spring session and their overall productive work at the Seimas.
Džiugelis also noted he was not concerned about his proposals in connection with the gambling sector.
“I am completely confident and calm about my proposals regarding the regulation of gambling. One of them was tabled after consulting the Prosecutor General’s Office and it was approved in principle with the amendment of the Criminal Code, the second one is fully in line with the recommendations made by the STT [Special Investigation Service]. The Seimas has not found the will to adopt the recommendations for more than ten years” the MP stated.
Any other questions will soon be addressed by the Seimas’ Commission for Ethics and Procedures, the Chief Official Ethics Commission (VTEK) and prosecutors, Džiugelis added.
MP Džiugelis has recently been reported to have spent more than EUR 23,000 for printing and publishing his activity reports in the past three years. This is according to findings of a transparency campaign led by public activist and TV host Andrius Tapinas.
The said money was paid to public relations expert Mindaugas Ardišauskas, who currently heads the Responsible Gambling Business Association (ALVA).
Although the two deny any wrongdoing, yet opposition MPs continue to question the ties between the politician and the gambling lobbyist. The opposition does not rule out that Džiugelis, head of the Seimas Committee on Social Affairs and Labour until Tuesday, might have used his position to include in the committee’s agenda items that benefitted gambling companies.
