'I told you so' - Kalvitis

  • 2008-04-24
  • Mike Collier in association with BNS
RIGA - Former Latvian Prime Minister is calling for the head of Prosecutor General Janis Maizitis concerning the caseof missing money from Latvian Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau(KNAB). Kalvitis believes that Maizitis has to assume responsibility for theincident and sees the whole affair as evidence that his failed attempt to unseat KNAB director Aleksejs Loskutovs was justified after all.

"I believe that prosecutor general definitely has to assumeresponsibility, as in such a politically sensitive case he cannot avoidit. The government was sacrificed due to Loskutovs, as the result of theprocess around KNAB! Pickets and demonstrations were organized -- how canhe avoid responsibility?" Kalvitis said in an interview with Latvian dailyNeatkariga Rita Avize on April 22.

Kalvitis  believes that Loskutovswas "covered" by Maizitis. "I have grounds to believe that under the pressure of theprotests organized by the opposition, the Prosecutor General's officeeither performed its inspection carelessly or did not perform it at all.Loskutovs was deliberately covered," Kalvitis claims.

"My trust in theprosecutor general, who is entrusted with the control of the operativeactivities of the institution [KNAB], has resulted in the situation that my predictions came true - it was possible to steal money at theinstitution, in large amounts," he said.

In fall last year, after relatively minor discrepancies were found in KNAB's accounts, the conflict between Kalvitis and Loskutovs arose, which resultedin the so-called "umbrella revolution" and the resignation of Kalvitis' government.

Kalvitis remains bitter that Prosecutor General Maizitis offered staunch support to Loskutovs throughout. By pointing out that there was little, if any, reason to sack Loskutovs on legal grounds, Maizitis made Kalvitis' campaign look increasingly like a personal vendetta or an attempt to save his People's Party from the embarrassment of a KNAB report detailing its massive overspending during the last general election campaign.