Rookie lawmaker elected Parliament chair

  • 2007-09-26
  • By Talis Saule Archdeacon

CONTROVERSIAL CHOICE: Daudze's appointment is likely to raise eyebrows, both for his lack of experience and for his Ventspils ties.

RIGA - Coalition lawmakers elected a virtually unknown politician with minimal legislative experience on the national level to chair Parliament after the previous speaker, Indulis Emsis, resigned from the post due to allegations leveled against him by state prosecutors.
In the ballot held Sept. 24, Gundars Daudze, a anesthesiologist and native of Ventspils, mustered 52 votes of support in the 100-seat Saeima. Thirty-six members voted against his candidacy.
The vote came three days after prosecutors opened a criminal case against Emsis for allegedly providing false testimony in at least two ongoing investigations, one of which involves bribery and money laundering among Ventspils politicians and businessmen.

Like Emsis, Daudze is a member of the Greens and Farmers Union, a centrist party that has been compromised in recent months after its main backer and candidate for prime minister, Aivars Lembergs was arrested for numerous charges involving money laundering, tax evasion and bribery. He is currently under house arrest.
Daudze was elected to Parliament in October 2006. Prior to that he was a member of the Ventspils City Council from the locally based For Latvia and Ventspils party, which is fervently loyal to Lembergs.
Daudze said that he was prepared for public reproof over his "relations with Ventspils," but he would not comment specifically about Lembergs' case. He said that his relations with Lembergs, who remains mayor of Ventspils a half-year after he was arrested, revolved around his former status as a municipal lawmaker and as head of the Ventspils hospital.

Prior to the vote there was speculation that the Greens and Farmers would not keep the post of parliamentary chairman, given its extraordinarily important status as acting president when the head of state is out of the country and declared unable to carry out duties. However, Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis noted that, in agreeing to allow the Greens and Farmers to keep the post, coalition parties agreed to a government shake-up in the near future.
"We have discussed the issue that qualitative changes in the work of the government are necessary, and that these changes will happen in connection with individual officials and the targets that have been set. Work on it will be done in the upcoming weeks," Kalvitis, a member of the People's Party, said.
The prime minister has yet to approve a replacement for the economy minister, who resigned earlier this month. Other top posts on the line could include the Education and Welfare ministries, according to the rumor mill. 

Emsis' legal troubles, together with the snap decision to replace the anti-corruption chief (see story below) and economic woes, are bound to have a backlash among voters, who are increasingly disappointed with the current four-party coalition. 
Suspicion about Emsis' conduct was first raised when he reported having $10,000 stolen from his briefcase in the Cabinet of Ministers. Eventually, $6,500 of the money was found in the hands of a waiter at the building's cafe, after which Emsis changed his statement to say that the briefcase had originally only contained $6,500.
He said that he had borrowed the money from an acquaintance in order to buy a new tractor for his farm.
The former speaker is also being investigated for deliberately providing false information about a high-profile criminal case involving Ventspils officials, according to a statement by the prosecutors' office.
If found guilty, Emsis would face a jail sentence of up to five years, compulsory work, or a fine of up to 100 minimum wages.

Daudze, 42, said he would work hard to justify the confidence the coalition has placed in him.
He said Greens and Farmers Union leader Augusts Brigmanis offered him the position, and he quickly accepted the nomination.
"He [Brigmanis] addressed me in the name of the faction. I had to decide fast and I accepted the challenge. Life will change radically," Daudze told the Baltic News Service.