RIGA - The date has been set for a referendum on a plan to increase the current minimum subsistence amount currently received by pensioners.
The Latvian Central Election Commission (CVK) has decided to hold the referendum on amendments to the pension law on August 23.
Arnis Cimdars, the head of the CVK, said at the CVK session that although he initially proposed to organize the referendum on August 30, which is the last possible day for the referendum, the proposal drew criticism as the date coincides with the first day of school. Organizing the referendum would interfere with scholastic preparations, as most polling stations are located in schools.
Gunars Kusins, head of the Latvian parliament's legal bureau, noted in the session that although the lawyers have differing opinions, he believes that the referendum can legally be organized.
Kusins pointed out that the 73rd paragraph of the constitution prohibits organizing a referendum on the state budget. "Any referendum affects budget," he said.
CVK unanimously adopted the decision to organize the referendum. Next week, it will submit the application for the necessary funding to carry it out.
As many as 177,000 citizens of Latvia signed the petition in support of the amendments to the pension law during the signature collection campaign, which was held from April 16 to May 15.
Another referendum of the amendments to the Latvian constitution will be held on August 2. These amendments, proposed by The Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS), were originally rejected by the parliament. But the signature collection campaign gathered over 217,000 signatures, so the referendum must be allowed to take place.
The idea for a referendum initiative was originally thought of by a group led by Janis Kleinbergs, a Latvian who had been living in Venezuela. Kleinbergs returned to Latvia several years ago and later became the leader of the Party of Retirees and Senior Citizens.
Politicians and citizens alike have no doubt that the referendum will be effective.
"This success shows that society has a desire to care for and help their grandparents and the elderly, and we hope the government will finally understand that it is their job to help these people as well," Aigars Stokenbergs, the head of the Society for a Different Politics, previously told The Baltic Times, regarding the petition's success in May. The first major undertaking of Stokenbergs' group was the May petition.
Over 567,400 Latvians receive the pension payments. The amendment, if accepted, would increase state pensions threefold, bringing the pension to at least 135 lats per month. The current minimum state pension is around 50 lats per month, one of the lowest in the EU.
In order for the pension referendum to be accepted, half of the number of voters who took part in the last parliamentary election must cast ballots, a minimum of 453,730 people.
