RIGA - Nationalistic stirrings can be seen around Latvia as sentiment grows for a change in the structure of government, one in which presidential powers would be drastically increased.
When in 2007 Chairman of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers Party (LSDWP) Janis Dinevics spoke of the collection of signatures for the proposal of constitutional change, he declared that "a president elected by the people would have greater responsibility to his or her constituents," reported news agency LETA. A similar discussion arises today, with the idea of a presidential Latvia bouncing through various media this year.
On Sept. 16, the issue was picked up on the weekly LTV1 television show 'Kas notiek Latvija?' (What's happening in Latvia?) in the context of the televised, special government meeting held on the previous day. Public relations specialist Ralfs Vilands commented on President Valdis Zatlers's appearance in the government meeting as "morally degrading for the state." Vilands believes it positioned the president as someone the people should be focusing on for solutions at a time of endless budget cuts and reforms, and not the government.
Zatlers's involvement in the meeting was made necessary in the first place due to a political dividedness in today's government, as political parties are gridlocked in their attempts to formulate a state budget.
The entire event undoubtedly had a slight deus ex machina air about it, with Zatlers seen as an imposing figure at the right hand of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, calling out for concrete deadlines for concrete tasks.
Attorney Andris Grutups argued that a government formed by the president would work more efficiently and lack the political discord characteristic of most governments in a democratic Latvia. Yet Grutups also pointed to the newness of the Latvian state and its national identity, linking it to a destructive combination of "extreme ambition and low self-esteem."
In an interview with news agency BNS in May, constitutional law expert Aivars Endzins warned of the danger of changing the president's authority. He stressed that the lack of party stability and the "political culture" in Latvia make it virtually impossible to elect a candidate supported by some kind of majority, without the president becoming a pawn to party or oligarch interests.
Another constitutional law expert, Janis Pleps, spoke to BNS earlier this year saying that popular surveys in Latvia favor a president elected by the people.
Albeit ideas for a strong, unifying leader, a president with more than mostly representative duties circulate freely, there can be a good reason for this. Political analyst Fareed Zakaria argues that as a country's GDP falls, so does its priority for democracy; the best instrument for making democracy last has historically proven to be wealth.
Somewhat alarming parallels can be drawn with Zakaria's position concerning politics in Latvia, and the current economic downturn.
Today's conditions call for responsibility, which is in turn met reluctantly by the country's leaders. Subconsciously or not, Latvian society finds itself toying with the idea of a more powerful president, through public discourse and even art, as the staging of Zigmars Liepins' and Kaspars Dimiters' play 'Vadonis' (Leader), about the life and times of Karlis Ulmanis, Latvia's authoritative leader of the 1930s shows.
These are also signals of a political, and even more so, democratic immaturity, a slight longing for and the approval of someone setting deadlines, as in the televised meeting.
The premiere of 'Vadonis' on Sept. 17 also was met with national conservative movement 'Visu Latvijai!' (Everything for Latvia!), who say they are preparing to work on a bill that would propose the increase in presidential powers. In a press release, it declares that Latvia is in need of a 'Saimnieks' (Leader or Master) to make decisions and take responsibility.
The bill is expected to be ready by November 18.
