Vilnius, Aug 4 Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas stepped down from his post on Monday, triggering the automatic resignation of the entire cabinet.
Paluckas confirmed his decision during an emergency government meeting on Monday morning, the Baltic News Service reported.
"Having made the decision to resign as Prime Minister, I announce that the 19th Government of Lithuania is resigning," Paluckas said at the start of the meeting.
He added that he would formally submit his resignation to President Gitanas Nauseda later on Monday and expressed gratitude to his ministers for their cooperation, Xinhua news agency reported.
Under Lithuanian law, the Prime Minister's resignation mandates that the President be informed the same day. Nauseda is now expected to accept the resignation via official decree and assign the outgoing government to serve in a caretaker role until a new administration is established. He should also appoint an interim Prime Minister.
Nauseda has up to 15 days to nominate a new Prime Minister, who must then be approved by the parliament, known as the Seimas. The Social Democratic Party, which has the largest representation in the Seimas, is responsible for selecting a nominee. They are scheduled to discuss their candidate at a party presidium meeting on Wednesday.
Paluckas announced his intention to resign as the country's head of government and chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party last Thursday.
His departure from office comes amid investigations into his financial dealings and allegedly inappropriate involvement in business, ties to certain businesspeople and failure to pay damages owed to the Vilnius municipality.
Paluckas, however, denied any wrongdoing and called the criticism a "coordinated attack" by political opponents.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda accepted the resignation of PM Paluckas' government and appointed Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius to lead the interim administration. According to the Constitution of Lithuania, when the Prime Minister resigns, his cabinet must resign too, and the President must be notified on the same day.
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