On Thursday morning, the nation’s president, Gitanas Nauseda, made Paluckas’ resignation known to the media.
In a statement from his Social Democrat Party, Paluckas confirmed the news.
Following the formation of a three-party coalition following parliamentary elections in October, Paluckas took over the position late last year.
His cabinet is expected to also resign, which is likely to bring down the entire government. Soon, new coalition discussions are anticipated to begin.
Paluckas has been the subject of numerous scandals in his business, some of which date back more than ten years. After being found guilty in 2012 of allegedly mutilating the bidder process for Vilnius’s capital’s rat extermination services, media investigations revealed that he had never paid a sizable portion of a 16,500-euro ($19, 000) fine.
Paluckas was the municipal administration director of Vilnius at the time, and judges found him to have abused his official position by unlawfully granting privileges to the company that received the highest bid.
He received a two-year prison sentence, but he ultimately was not.
Lithuania’s anticorruption and law enforcement agencies have begun their investigations into Paluckas since the media investigations.
He has denied any wrongdoing, but he has instead described the political opposition’s coordinated attacks against his business dealings.
The prime minister’s resignation comes just weeks before a planned joint military exercise between Belarus and Lithuania’s neighbors, highlighting the country’s precarious situation.
After being accused of being the source of a wave of “illegal migration” into the nation in May, Lithuania brought legal action against Belarus at the International Court of Justice.
Before the world power’s collapse the following year, Lithuania, which is a member of NATO and was previously a member of the Soviet Union, declared its independence.
Source: Aljazeera
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