RIGA - Many residents of Latgale indicate that they are ready to sell their vote in the 10th Saeima elections, according to the Sept. 26 edition of the LNT show ‘Top 10,’ reports news agency LETA. Latvia’s law enforcement institutions, carrying out a pre-election risk analysis, concluded that the threat of vote buying and of falsification of results in the forthcoming elections exists.
The greatest threat is in Rezekne, in the eastern province of Latgale. Local people explain that this is due to the dire socio-economic situation in the region, as well as to the activities of persons who are willing to act illegally in the interests of one or another of the country’s political forces.
Rezekne inhabitants spoken to in connection with the issue were far from feeling insulted at being put on a ‘black’ list, as they are aware that there are grounds for this. Participants in the 100 lats (142 euros) per month work program for the unemployed told how with each election, people appear offering to buy votes. “People do not have work, do not have anything, and their hands are in the garbage bins. What can they do? They are ready to sell everything, what do they have to lose?” said Rezekne local Mihails.
“They are still not speaking about the exact price, they will say that later. Right now there are only rumors that people will sell, and about how and where. But this will happen, 100 percent,” admits Igors, another local man.
Many openly admitted that they were ready to sell their votes. “I will give it away for money, as there is no point anyway, but at least I could get some money, some benefit for myself. There have been times when they have paid 5 lats, or 10,” indicated Pjotrs, unemployed, who added that he was even ready to vote for 1 lats, “as it is easy - you just need to put the paper in the box.”
Pjotrs’ friend Zans has sold his vote on previous occasions. The last time he ended up disappointed: “I was offered me a tenner, but that did not work out. They gave me something, but less - a fiver instead of a tenner,” the citizen complained.
Meanwhile, sociologist Arnis Kaktins expressed doubt that vote buying could have any serious affect on the election results. In his opinion, the election system is fairly safe. Politologist Iveta Reinholda also indicated that she feels there is no point in the activity.
However, some of the candidates for this upcoming election may also want to consider standing in line for the cash handouts, due to the condition of their personal finances. It has been reported by the State Revenue Service that candidates who will participate in the next Saeima elections have declared debts totaling 32.2 million lats. The Revenue Service has checked information from the Central Election Commission on 1,235 candidates, and compared this information with the data in the Revenue Service’s database.
Discrepancies in personal accounts abound, including the case of 185 candidates, who have stated in their income declarations that they had lent money to other persons, for a total amount of 49.5 million lats, as of Jan. 1. However, the incomes of many of these candidates are too low for them to have made such loans. For instance, the amount of loans that 14 MP candidates have given to other persons exceeds their declared incomes for the past three years tenfold, the Revenue Service said.
113 candidates have borrowed money, 14 million lats altogether, but at the same time have lent money to other persons, totaling 40.2 million lats. 559 candidates have savings totaling 18.3 million lats in all, including 6.5 million lats in cash and 11.8 million lats stashed away in bank accounts.
The State Revenue Service reports other discrepancies for 246 of the candidates. The Service points out that the discrepancies in some cases may be due to differing time periods in reporting for the CEC and SRS. However, in 45 cases there is suspicion about non-registered commercial activity, i.e. rental of real estate.
891 candidates have declared owning at least 1 real estate property, which should also mean there are maintenance costs to go with it, but 115 declared incomes are less than the minimum subsistence level. Fifteen candidates have no declared income, 49 have less or equal to 1,000 lats, but 51 show between 1,000 lats and 2,000 lats.
Eighty seven candidates declare that they rent out their real estate property, but 45 of them have not registered such commercial activity. Fourteen have declared no revenue whatsoever from commercial activity.
Whether these candidates, some of whom are current parliamentarians, are unable to balance their own household budgets, struggling month-to-month with their paychecks, don’t have good bookkeeping skills, or are just plain corrupt, many of them provide numbers that just don’t add up. This should be cause for concern for the voters in considering whether many of them should be elected to public office and given the public trust to run this country.
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