RIGA - Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis' suspension of the head of the anti-corruption bureau has triggered a hailstorm of poignant criticism from two leading non-governmental organizations that focus on political transparency in Latvia.
"Recent public statements by authorities and politicians, the rush of the investigation and the sloppy legal procedures indicate that finding the truth is not the goal… politicians wish to as quickly as possible dispose [of] an undesirable public official instead of [conducting] an objective and impartial evaluation," researchers from the Providus Center for Public Policy, a non-governmental organization monitoring politics in Latvia, published in a Sept. 29 Diena article.
"The prime minister is doing all that he can to sabotage anti-corruption activities," the researchers claim.
In an utterly unexpected decision, Kalvitis on Sept. 24 dismissed Aleksejs Loskutovs, chief of the anti-corruption bureau (KNAB), citing irregularities in the bookkeeping of a bureau department charged with undercover operations.
Roberts Putnis, head of Delna, the Latvian branch of Transparency International, was equally harsh on Kalvitis' decision. "When it comes to KNAB, Kalvitis makes instant decisions without explaining anything to the public. I suspect that the head of government wants to use political resources to hinder the work of KNAB and to destroy the institutions high reputation in Latvia," the statement reads.
Delna had opined that the true motivations behind the suspension lie in an ongoing investigation by KNAB into campaign financing 's an investigation that could result in as much as a 2 million lat (2.8 million euros) fine for the People's Party, to which Kalvitis belongs.
Providus attacked the move on the prime minister's methods in suspending the anti-corruption head. The organization points to numerous procedural and legal errors surrounding the affair.
For example, the NGO's report shows that Kalvitis does not explicitly have the right to suspend Loskutovs from office. Kalvitis' Sept. 24 decree came in the form of a letter to State Chancellery director Gunta Veismane, who is not empowered to suspend the anti-corruption chief, asking that she form an investigative commission and temporarily relieve Loskutovs from his duties.
Well aware of this, the prime minister argued that he had the right to suspend Loskutovs via the Labor Law, which allows an employer to suspend an employee. Providus, however, points out that the KNAB director is appointed by Parliament and as such Kalvitis is not his employer, and the position does not even come with a contract for employment.
Moreover, the Labor Law only allows for a suspension within one month of the release of information pertaining to any shortcomings. The audit revealing poor bookkeeping by certain segments of KNAB, however, has been available for nearly five months.
Diana Kurpniece, head of public relations at KNAB, confirmed that there is a special law on the suspension of the KNAB chief. That law only allows for him to be suspended by special order of the Prosecutor's Office if the KNAB director is under criminal investigation or has been arrested.
Prosecutor General Janis Maizitis has said that the Prosecutor's office was not given enough time by the government to properly conduct an investigation into the matter and form an opinion.
"I am ready to ask the government to extend the term... It is not possible to submit a grounded report within such a short period 's one week," Maizitis said after an Oct. 1 meeting with President Valdis Zatlers.
Kurpnience said Loskutovs himself also believes that his suspension has been handled illegally.
"He [Loskutovs] thinks that the suspension is not legal, and so he is still working in some capacity," Kurpniece told The Baltic Times.
She explained that while Alvis Vilks has been officially appointed as acting director of the corruption watchdog, Loskutovs still works on various projects for the organization 's and will continue to do so.
"At the moment the problem is that KNAB has still not seen the final decision issued by the state auditor's office. According to the law, there should be a final decision issued, and there should always be reports describing what kinds of shortcomings have been found in the office and what should be done in the future to eliminate them," Kurpniece said.
"At the moment, the managers of our institution have not received any such. It is not very clear what kind of activities should be carried out by our office," she said. She said that KNAB must now wait for an official report to be lodged before it can take any further action in the case.
Zatlers weighed in on the issue during an Oct. 1 interview with the popular LNT program "900 Seconds." He said that while it is necessary to keep some state secrets, information regarding the essence of the offenses should be published and made public. "The essence of the offence should be stated so that public understands," the president said.
The government has approved two separate commissions to look into the case, one headed by Maizitis and one by State Administration Service Employee Maris Skudra. Both of the commissions will be composed primarily of politicians and representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers.
