Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte has flip-flopped on her pledge to resign after the presidium of her ruling Homeland Union (TS-LKD) party decided the three-party coalition must continue working, LRT.lt, the website of Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, reported on June 12.

In mid-May, the conservative party said that if the parliament failed to approve snap elections in the wake of the ongoing expenses scandal, it would put forward the government's resignation. At the time, Simonyte said she would resign after the Nato summit in Vilnius if the Seimas failed to back the early election bid.

As reported by bne IntelliNews, the parliament, the Seimas, voted on June 6 against holding an early election in what the conservatives said would have been a "reset" of the political system. Simonyte then softened her stance, saying that since the party delegated her, it also needs to decide whether she should resign.

"The presidium does not approve the prime minister and the government's resignation to take personal and institutional responsibility for the prevailing flawed procedure for the use of and accounting for funds local councillors received for their activities," the resolution reads.

After the TS-LKD sitting, Simonyte apologised for her “human reaction” and “inaccurate communication”.

"In light of the discussion of the presidium and the fact that the coalition is functioning and in principle does not see any obstacles to the continuation of the coalition agreement, the government will continue its work in the same composition, with [a new] education, science and sport minister to be added as soon as possible, and will continue to carry out its programme," she said in a statement.

"The expectation that the ministers should be dismissed for allegedly failing to meet my own requirements of transparency was groundless, because I had and have no reason to doubt the morality of the ministers," she said.

The TS-LKD council also urged the prime minister to nominate a candidate for the position of minister of education, science and sport to replace Jurgita Siugzdiniene who resigned last month.

The ruling coalition partners, the Freedom Party and the Liberal Movement, have already said the coalition should continue working.

The expenses scandal, unveiled by Laisves TV in May, touched all dominant parties in Lithuania. Current and former politicians in local councils, many of whom later moved into the parliament, were found claiming potentially fraudulent expenses.

President Gitanas Nauseda said last month that not only Education, Science and Sport Minister Jurgita Siugzdiniene, but also two other ministers involved in the Kaunas payout scandal – Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste and Culture Minister Simonas Kairys – should step down, LRT.lt said.