Garber: disbanding 10th Saeima was worth it

RIGA - After three years of work in Latvia, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Judith Garber believes that dissolving the 10th Saeima in 2011 was worth it, since Latvia now has a different government and new MPs.

In an interview with Latvian daily Diena the ambassador pointed out that at least one-third of MPs were elected for the first time in the 2011 emergency Saeima elections – an important aspect demonstrating that the political process in Latvia is highly dynamic, writes LETA.

Increasingly more people involve express their opinions and beliefs. Such phenomena like manabalss.lv have also appeared. New mechanisms are emerging, allowing people to express themselves and communicate with politicians regarding the directions they would like their country to take and the initiatives they would want to see, said Garber, adding that she has witnessed a vibrant political process during her work in Latvia, and latest surveys show, even though public trust in Latvia's politicians is still low, it continues to increase.

Describing her three years in office, Garber explained that politically it has been a very lively period demonstrating the power of Latvia's democracy.

"When I arrived here, I knew that there would be parliamentary elections, however, I also had a chance to emergency parliamentary elections, initiated by the president's decree, and a referendum. This has been a highly dynamic period," the ambassador concluded.