Kilis’ health condition may lead to his resignation

RIGA – In the upcoming weeks, the Reform Party and the Education and Science Minister Roberts Kilis will make a joint decision, based on medical conclusions from specialists, whether Kilis is able to continue work as a minister, Vjaceslavs Dombrovskis, head of the Reform Party's Saeima group, told LETA.

According to Dombrovskis, the Reform Party will not suggest anything to Kilis, who is not a member of the party. Everything will depend on the minister's health condition. He is currently not at work, and has taken vacation to see if he can continue to function normally.

Any minister must able to devote all his or her time to pursuing the policies of his or her ministry, said Dombrovskis. The decision on Kilis' future will not be an individual decision by Kilis, the Reform Party or its Saeima group, but a joint decision by all three, he stressed.

Edmunds Demiters, deputy head of the Reform Party's Saeima group, told LETA that, in his opinion, Kilis' inability to do his job for a lengthy period of time was unacceptable. Nevertheless, the decision is up to the minister.

Another Reform Party MP, Zanda Kalnina-Lukasevica said, in commenting on the possible replacement of Kilis: "We need a stable government, not constant change and turbulence."

Kilis has been unable to attend several high-level meetings on education affairs lately, including the Cabinet of Ministers' meetings. For instance, the future of a new system for accreditation of universities and colleges - proposed by Kilis - is being debated now in his absence, and it appears that Kilis' reforms may fail.