More than 60,000 signatures have been collected in the first two weeks of a signature collection campaign that is being held in Latvia to initiate a referendum on two controversial security bills that President Vaira Vike-Freiberga refused to sign into law. The month-long signature gathering campaign began April 3 and will last until May 2. The results will be announced on May 10.
During the four weeks the Central Election Commission will have to gather the signatures of 10 percent of Latvia's voting population, or 149,064 signatures, for each of the two bills in order to send the amendments to a popular referendum.
Voters are able to sign for the amendments separately.
The amendments, which were supported by the government and Parliament, would drastically change parliamentary oversight of Latvia's law enforcement agencies. In the president's opinion, they would harm the delicate balance of forces in the country and jeopardize the country's standing with security allies.
The passing of the amendments sparked enormous controversy and nearly plunged Latvia into a political crisis. The government initially pushed the amendments through using a special law which allows them to pass bills while Saeima (parliament) is in recess, a move which the president blasted as brazen and unnecessary.
The president vetoed the bill, sending it to parliament for revision. When parliament sent it back to her desk unchanged on March 10, the president still refused to promulgate the amendments, exercising her right under article 72 of the constitution. It was the first time in Latvian history that such a measure was put into motion.
Government leaders, meanwhile, argue that the bills work to improve coordination among government institutions with regards to security, and that the amendments would be considered a normal set of laws in most other countries.
