Ministries should be rotated - Silina

RIGA - Latvia should introduce a system where ministries are formed according to the current issues to be addressed, rather than working in one composition, believes Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity).

In an interview with the magazine Sestdiena, Silina said that after the next Saeima elections or even before them, it should be prepared that Latvia works in a similar way as the European Commission in that "ministries are a rotating organism - they are formed according to the topicality of the moment".

"The head of government forms his government, and whatever the topical issue is, so is the ministry," the prime minister said.

In her view, the system in Latvia is too rigid, which is why it is often so difficult to change policy.

"There [in the ministry] people have been working for decades and they have been doing the same policy all the time," Silina concluded.

She gave the example of the creation of the Climate and Energy Ministry, because alternative energy and additional energy resources are a hot topic. The Interior Ministry, she believes, should also deal with municipal issues, as is the case in Lithuania.

"That flexibility is very much needed," Silina said in an interview with Sestdiena, stressing that the number of ministries could also be reduced.

However, she admitted that this can only be done with the election of a new parliament.