Latvija in brief - 2007-10-17

  • 2007-10-17
New Era, the largest opposition party, called for the dissolution of the government on Oct. 16. The party submitted a draft proposal calling for Parliament to vote on the dissolution of Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis' government and the reinstitution of anti-corruption head Aleksejs Loskutovs (see story Page 1). The party called on parliamentarians to "place legislation and the state interests higher than the wishes of particular political forces." The party released a statement that said that the government's handling of Loskutovs raises "serious concerns" about the state of democracy in Latvia.

The government nominated its three candidates for the European Court of Human Rights on Oct. 16. While the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will only choose one judge for the post, the Latvian government is required to nominate multiple candidates. The first candidate is Inete Ziemele, who is acting as Latvia's current representative in the ECHR. The second candidate is Jautrite Briede, a senator of the Latvian Supreme Court's Department of Administrative Cases and a lecturer at the University of Latvia. The third and final candidate is Arturs Kucs, who is currently heading the International and European Law Department of the University of Latvia's Faculty of Law.

Integration Affairs Minister Oskars Kastens submitted a letter to Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis on Oct. 15 calling for the state to grant dual citizenship to refugees from WWII. The letter also called for dual citizenship to be granted to the victims of the occupation period and orphans. The letter said that a task force is currently preparing amendments which would grant citizenship to children who are born to Latvian citizens in foreign countries. Kastens hoped to expand these amendments to include "refugees, deportees and orphans." Issues of dual citizenship have been thrown into the spotlight recently as the government searches for ways to bring emigres back to Latvia.

Since the beginning of October, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has launched administrative cases against 11 lawmakers for conflicts of interest. KNAB accuses the lawmakers of employing their relatives as assistants and renting real estate from relatives with state money. The administrative offense carries a fine of 50 - 250 lats (71 - 355 euros). Information published by local media suggests that the alleged offenses have allegedly been committed by three lawmakers from the Greens and Farmers Union, as well as two from TB/LNNK and one from LPP/LC.

In a highly-anticipated speech by U.S. Ambassador Catherine Todd-Bailey on Oct. 16, the ambassador called on the people to participate in the democratic process more actively. Todd-Bailey said that Latvia has undergone an "amazing transformation" in recent years but was now faced with a choice 's to continue to strive for democracy or to decide that the "hard work is done," and fall into apathy. The speech came after the U.S. diplomat made widely criticized comments about the deteriorating status of democracy in Latvia.