An official meeting of the VMU Student Parliament did not take place, but current issues were discussed
May 19 In the Small Hall of Vytautas Magnus University, students gathered for a parliamentary sitting. The official meeting of the VMU Student Parliament did not take place due to the lack of a quorum (half of the members of parliament), but the parliamentarians discussed the issue of the working groups set up in the parliament and their work was discussed with the assembled parliamentarians, and the recommendations of the board of VMU SRC regarding the removal of one of the members of parliament, Justas Ivanauskas, were presented.
The meeting was opened by the Speaker of the Student Parliament Gabrielė Jonuškaitė. She presented information on the activities of the working group on declaring a climate emergency at university. The chairwoman informed that after the meeting on 26 April, she had been contacted by the group’s initiator, Žygimantas Menčenkovas, about his intention to leave the student parliament. The parliamentarians present at the meeting advised proposing to parliamentarians vote at a distance on the suspension of this working group until the next parliamentary session, then parliamentarians will be able to decide whether this working group will resume.
During the last sitting, a question from the students of the Faculty of Catholic Theology Justas Žukauskas and Deimantė Auksinaitė regarding the removal of one member, Justas Ivanauskas, from the parliament was presented. In accordance with the Articles of Association of VMU SRC, this issue was referred to the Board of VMU SRC for discussion and presentation of the proposal on the way forward at the next sitting of the Parliament. Lukas Gedvila, Member of the Board of VMU SA, presented the resolution of the Board on the removal of Justas Ivanauskas from the VMU Student Parliament. Five of the seven board members voted in favor of removing the parliamentarian, with two abstaining to avoid bias. According to VMU SA Work Regulations 3.6. After the approval of 2/3 of the votes of all members of the Student Parliament elected to VMU by the Board, a member of VMU SA may lose the status of a member of VMU SA for non-fulfillment of the obligations provided for in these Articles of Association. The Board singled out the violations of the VMU Code of Academic Ethics and the Statutes of VMU SA committed by J. Ivanauskas.
According to the Articles of Association of VMU SRC, if a quorum is not met during the meeting of the VMU Student Parliament, a new parliamentary meeting must be held within 10 working days after the failed meeting. An electronic vote will be held to reconvene a parliamentary sitting to see if a live sitting is needed to see if the current issues can be resolved and voted on remotely.