People dump Saeima

  • 2011-07-27
  • Staff and wire reports

RIGA - Standing on the wrong side of history, Ventspils Mayor Aivars Lembergs and former Latvian prime minister and current Saeima MP Andris Skele (For a Good Latvia) indicated before last Saturday’s referendum that they planned to vote against the dissolution of parliament, reports news agency LETA. Lembergs, often referred to as one of Latvia’s ‘oligarchs,’ however, seemed to already understand that Saeima was not to survive the vote.

As Lembergs explained his decision on the TV channel LNT, he was expecting to hear some arguments for the dissolution of the parliament, namely, a proof of decisions that the Saeima made that were in his favor, but there “has been none.”
Skele expressed that he believes former President Valdis Zatlers proposed the dissolution of parliament so that “he could enter politics and run in the elections.” Like the ‘pot calling the kettle black,’ the controversial former prime minister added that he believes this is “amoral,” which is why he was set to vote against dissolution.
Leading up to the vote, Zatlers, the current leader of his Reform Party, urged citizens to participate in the referendum, as they held the power in their hands for change.

He pointed out that almost two months have past since his proposal to dismiss parliament, with more and more persons starting to question the decision. “Today, when I am not president of Latvia anymore, I can simply say - I was sick of all that was happening. I, just like all of you, was sick of living in a country led by lies, cynicism and greed,” said Zatlers in a video address.

The voters overwhelmingly voted to dismiss Saeima, with unofficial referendum results showing 650,518 voting for disbanding the 10th Saeima, or 94.3 percent, with those opposing dismissal amounting to 37,829 citizens, or 5.48 percent.
A respectable 44.73 percent of eligible voters participated in the exercise.
It was on May 28 when Zatlers, who was still president at the time, deployed a never-used presidential power to call the plebiscite, proposing to dissolve the Saeima. He said that his decision was due to disagreements between the parliament and the judiciary, which surfaced, for instance, when the Saeima voted against allowing the Corruption Prevention Bureau to search the residence of wealthy opposition Saeima member Ainars Slesers (For a Good Latvia).

Zatlers said it was time to break the clout of politician-businessmen known as oligarchs and restore battered public faith in the republic’s lawmakers.
Unity leader and current Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis, All for Latvia!-For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK leader Raivis Dzintars, and the head of Harmony Center’s group at Saeima Janis Urbanovics all planned to vote for the dissolution of the Saeima. Urbanovics said “Latvian citizens do not have all that many opportunities to express their points of view on what is happening in their country.”

Kristovskis said that he hopes this will be a step on the road towards a mature democracy and will help improve the political quality in Latvia.
Dzintars said that even though he believes it is a bit peculiar to vote for his own dismissal, unfortunately it is not possible to vote against certain politicians, thus the whole parliament must be dissolved, so that hopefully a better one will take its place.
“It will certainly be a protest vote,” SKDS director Arnis Kaktins told AFP. “However, to state that this would be just a protest against oligarchs would be an oversimplification. Our polls over quite a long period of time have shown distrust and dissatisfaction with our parliament regardless of the oligarch factor,” he said.

Gunta, 40, from the northern town of Aluksne, was wary of the upcoming vote. “Change is always needed but whether the referendum will change anything, I am not so sure,” she said.
During the 11th Saeima elections this fall, people must assess politicians’ past achievements and future resolutions, President Andris Berzins told the LNT morning show ‘900 sekundes’ on July 26. Berzins lauded residents’ activity during the referendum and expressed hope that the nation will be even more active in the 11th Saeima elections this fall.

Berzins believes that residents should contemplate their choice already now and elect the best and most professional people so that they would not be disappointed afterwards. The president also mentioned two criteria that should be taken into account when making one’s choice: the candidates’ past achievements and the parties’ promises about their future tasks.
Twenty-one years have passed since the restoration of the independence of Latvia and there are many professionals in the country. Their experience varies and so does their age, but they should take part in state administration, emphasized Berzins.
When asked whether he would run in the elections, Lembergs said he still had not decided. “I am looking in the mirror and thinking: it cannot be that this man is the reason why Dombrovskis’ government and the Saeima, which has been working for only seven months, is now being dissolved,” wondered the politician, seeming not to understand events raging around him.
With no quorum required, a simple majority was enough to axe the parliament elected last October and pave the way for snap elections in September. Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Arnis Cimdars says that the 11th Saeima elections will be held on Sept. 17.

CEC was on July 26 to confirm the official results for the July 23 referendum. According to the Constitution’s Article 48, new Saeima elections must be held no later than two months after the dissolution of the previous Saeima.
Political parties will be able to submit their candidate lists from July 29 to Aug. 18.
Analysts say renewed political wrangling surrounding the elections is unlikely, though, to have a major economic impact in Latvia, which has emerged from the world’s deepest recession and remains locked in an austerity drive.