The Constitutional Court ruled on May 13 that the education reform of 2004 was in line and consistent with the constitution, thereby leaving almost no hope for opponents that the reform would be reversed. The suit was initiated by 20 members of Parliament, who appealed to the judiciary on the basis that the reform discriminated against the minority by providing a lower quality of education. Opponents of the reform and representatives of minority NGOs said they would continue to try to influence the reform. Meanwhile, some are going so far as to consider appealing to the European Court of Human Rights. Legal experts, however, have long doubted that the Strasbourg-based court would interfere in domestic education issues.
Latvia ranked 11th in the world in governmental gender equality according to the World Economic Forum. The survey, which covered 58 countries, looked at monthly wages, access to the labor market, representation in politics, health, education and unskilled jobs. (See table on Page 8.)
Forty-six judges from the Riga Regional Court system skipped the annual judges meeting to protest recent criticism from Justice Minister Solvita Aboltina. Acting chairman Janis Muiznieks handed over his resignation to Aboltina in dissent. Aboltina, who is a member of the right-wing New Era party, had previously said that several members of the judiciary were corrupt. Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis responded by reprimanding Aboltina, calling her allegations of wrongdoing "unjustified." It was the first time that Kalvitis, a member of the People's Party, had issued a reprimand to a minister. New Era defended their party member: "The better JL works, the more sour relations become in the government," faction head Karlis Sadurskis said.
Heavy rains in the eastern area of the country caused three districts to declare a state of emergency due to rising water levels. The Daugavpils, Livani and Preili regions saw river levels rise even higher than last year's record floods. The cities went so far as to consider closing roads and bridges. Increasing water levels flooded hundreds of hectares of land, officials said. The worst damage was done to pedestrian bridges in Livani, which were swept away by the floods. Local roads were also damaged.
The government forwarded the Framework Convention on National Minorities, with reservations, to Parliament for adoption. According to the legislation, minority languages will likely not be used in street signs in areas with high concentrations, nor will minority groups likely be able to use their languages when speaking in local government meetings. Parliament is expected to ratify the agreement by the end of May, nearly 10 years after the country originally signed it. Meanwhile, the left-wing For Human Rights in a United Latvia staged protests over the planned ratification. The party demanded that parliamentarians accept the convention without reservation.
