If regions are not supported, it might mean end of government - Krauze

RIGA - If the regions are not supported, it might mean the end of the government, Armands Krauze, chairman of the board of the Union of Greens and Farmers, told LETA, noting that on Monday, November 24, the issue of regional transport will be discussed at a cooperation meeting of the parties forming the government.

Greens/Farmers has convened an extraordinary meeting of the party's board on the political situation on Friday.

Krauze pointed out that on Monday, the cooperation meeting of the coalition parties will include a discussion with Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity), with the main issue being regional transport. He stressed that transport is essential for people to get to work, hospitals and schools.

According to Krauze, although Transport Minister Atis Svinka (Progressives) remained in office with the votes of Greens/Farmers, he has submitted proposals for regional transport without real funding. However, funding has been found for the Rail Baltica project, "to build new poles on the Daugava River". Krauze believes that it is totally unacceptable to cut regional transport while there is money for such projects.

He pointed out that this is a false move - to submit a proposal without a cover. Krauze said that this policy, as well as the actions of the Progressives, which actually represents the interests of Riga, destabilizes the government. Greens/Farmers will never accept a situation where people in the regions are left without public transport, Krauze stressed.

He stressed that the Progressives is currently torpedoing the government with such proposals and does not support the regions. If this approach continues and the regions are not supported, it could mean the end of the government, the coalition politician warned.

Asked whether Greens/Farmers could call for a vote of confidence in the prime minister in the Saeima, Krauze said that such an issue was not currently on the table.

Andris Suvajevs, head of the Progressives' faction in the Saeima, told LETA that funding for public transport was one of Progressives' priorities in the budget negotiations. "However, decisions on the budget are joint in the coalition, and Greens/Farmers did not raise this issue as an important one," Suvajevs said.

"Maybe if we managed to stop the Agriculture Ministry's schemes that we hear about in the media, then the budget would also have more funds for public transport," Suvajevs said.

He pointed out that "claims that Progressives are torpedoing the government are even ridiculous, given the Greens/Farmers' votes on the Istanbul Convention and the support of two party's MPs on removing the transport minister just yesterday".

As reported, a majority of parliamentarians at Thursday's Saeima session rejected a motion of no confidence in Transport Minister Atis Svinka proposed by opposition MPs, while two Greens/Farmers members, Uldis Augulis and Janis Vucans, voted for the minister's resignation.

The coalition agreement states that the Saeima factions of the coalition partners and the MPs belonging to the factions shall not propose or support a motion of no confidence in the Cabinet of Ministers, the prime minister, or any of the ministers.

Augulis told LETA earlier that he voted for Svinka's resignation because the minister had not offered a convincing vision for the transport sector in 2026, only expressed hope for help from the Finance Ministry. The minister has not talked to local governments, which are preparing a letter to Saeima and the prime minister, stressing that a sharp reduction in regional bus routes is unacceptable.

The minister has a poor understanding of what goes on in the transport sector, and meetings will take place in the near future with regional public transport companies and trade unions to analyze the situation, said Augulis.

Commenting on the votes of Augulis and Vucans in favor of Svinka's removal from the ministerial post, Andris Suvajevs, chair of the Progressives faction in the Saeima, said that this was "only related to the issue of Ventspils port debts". "This shows that the principled position of our party and the minister against the lobbying of narrow interests is inconvenient," Suvajevs said.

"The fact that two coalition MPs supported the minister's resignation shows how unpredictable the coalition has become. In this context, it should be noted that if the Saeima were to vote on the resignation of Agriculture Minister Armands Krauze (Greens/Farmers), I would not be able to predict the vote of the Progressives faction at this point," Suvajevs said.

Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) told LETA on Thursday that the decision of two MPs of the ruling Union of Greens and Farmers to support the motion of no confidence in Svinka was "a matter of cooperation among coalition partners."

Addressing Saeima ahead of the vote on Thursday, Svinka said that the issue of public transport is a legacy of two previous ministers - Talis Linkaitis and Janis Vitenbergs (National Alliance).

Svinka called on carriers that are unable to fulfill their contracts to agree on their termination so that the Road Transport Directorate (ATD) can call for new tenders with better conditions and driver salaries. Society needs carriers that provide a safe and quality service, the minister stressed.

Svinka stressed that the price per kilometer is set in free competition, not regulated by the state, so the minister cannot change it. He plans to launch new tenders in line with today's market situation, to seek a legal framework to compensate for losses, to start digitization, to develop commercial and regional transport strategies, and to introduce transport on demand within the Social Climate Fund.