How can an apt-get command be configured to ignore those it aims to remove?

Can the apt-get command be configured to ignore some of the packages it wants to remove. I run both 32 bit and 64 bit development packages as well as the programs created on them, meaning I need both the xxx:i386 and their 64 bit counterparts on the system.In this system for example I need to install a 64bit development package on all the related 32bit development packages are marked for removal. root@ac02:/usr/src/packages/lazarus# apt-get -f install Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Correcting dependencies... Done The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: gir1.2-freedesktop:i386 gir1.2-glib-2.0:i386 gir1.2-pango-1.0:i386 libcairo-gobject2:i386 libcairo-script-interpreter2:i386 libexpat1-dev:i386 libgirepository-1.0-1:i386 libharfbuzz-gobject0:i386 libharfbuzz-icu0:i386 libice-dev:i386 liblzo2-2:i386 libpcre3-dev:i386 libpcrecpp0:i386 libpng12-dev:i386 libpthread-stubs0-dev:i386 libsm-dev:i386 libx11-dev:i386 libxau-dev:i386 libxcb-render0-dev:i386 libxcb-shm0-dev:i386 libxcb1-dev:i386 libxcursor-dev:i386 libxdamage-dev:i386 libxdmcp-dev:i386 libxext-dev:i386 libxfixes-dev:i386 libxinerama-dev:i386 libxrandr-dev:i386 libxrender-dev:i386 zlib1g-dev:i386 Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them. The following extra packages will be installed: gir1.2-atk-1.0 gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0 gir1.2-gtk-2.0 libatk1.0-dev libcairo-script-interpreter2 libcairo2-dev libexpat1-dev libfontconfig1-dev libfreetype6-dev libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev libglib2.0-dev libgtk2.0-dev libharfbuzz-dev libharfbuzz-gobject0 libice-dev libpango1.0-dev libpcre3-dev libpcrecpp0 libpixman-1-dev libpng12-dev libpthread-stubs0-dev libsm-dev libx11-dev libxau-dev libxcb-render0-dev libxcb-shm0-dev libxcb1-dev libxcomposite-dev libxcursor-dev libxdamage-dev libxdmcp-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev libxft-dev libxi-dev libxinerama-dev libxrandr-dev libxrender-dev Suggested packages: libcairo2-doc libglib2.0-doc libgtk2.0-doc libice-doc libpango1.0-doc libsm-doc libxcb-doc libxext-doc The following packages will be REMOVED: gir1.2-atk-1.0:i386 gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0:i386 gir1.2-gtk-2.0:i386 libatk1.0-dev:i386 libcairo2-dev:i386 libfontconfig1-dev:i386 libfreetype6-dev:i386 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev:i386 libglib2.0-dev:i386 libgtk2.0-dev:i386 libharfbuzz-dev:i386 libpango1.0-dev:i386 libpixman-1-dev:i386 libxcomposite-dev:i386 libxft-dev:i386 libxi-dev:i386 The following NEW packages will be installed: gir1.2-atk-1.0 gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0 gir1.2-gtk-2.0 libatk1.0-dev libcairo-script-interpreter2 libcairo2-dev libexpat1-dev libfontconfig1-dev libfreetype6-dev libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev libglib2.0-dev libgtk2.0-dev libharfbuzz-dev libharfbuzz-gobject0 libice-dev libpango1.0-dev libpcre3-dev libpcrecpp0 libpixman-1-dev libpng12-dev libpthread-stubs0-dev libsm-dev libx11-dev libxau-dev libxcb-render0-dev libxcb-shm0-dev libxcb1-dev libxcomposite-dev libxcursor-dev libxdamage-dev libxdmcp-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev libxft-dev libxi-dev libxinerama-dev libxrandr-dev libxrender-dev 0 upgraded, 38 newly installed, 16 to remove and 33 not upgraded. 1 not fully installed or removed. Need to get 14.0 MB of archives. After this operation, 13.4 MB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] When a package is marked for removal, does that mean that apt-get thinks it conflicts with other packages? This I find rather unexpected as most development systems search for 32bit development packages separately form 64 bit packages.