Fatherland party snatches post of deputy mayor

RIGA - Nearly three months after Latvia went to the polls in local elections, the structure of the Riga City Council has been finalized, with the election to the post of deputy mayor of Inese Vaidere, of the right-wing For Fatherland and Freedom Party.

Mayor Gundars Bojars of the Social Democratic Workers' Party will lead the council alongside Vaidere and the other deputy mayor, Sergejs Dolgopolovs of the For Human Rights in a United Latvia coalition.

Vaidere won 34 votes at a meeting of the 60-seat council on June 5. Her appointment comes after the Social Democrats and Fatherland signed a coalition agreement on May 24. A number of smaller parties are also thought to have supported Vaidere.

Following the result she said her election represents a swing away from what might have been a left-wing agenda.

"This changes the picture," she said. "Today's vote shows this coalition can work. It is a more rightist formation."

She said she would be pushing forward the conversion of Russian-language schools to the use of Latvian as the predominant language - a program due to begin in 2004. She would also be pushing for standards to be maintained in the Latvian language exams, which non-citizens must take in order to become citizens.

"The naturalization laws are very liberal," she said.

Vaidere's victory came as little surprise to councilor Alexander Gilman of the For Human Rights in a United Latvia party, which is generally supported by Riga's Russian-speaking population. For Human Rights had earlier signed a cooperation agreement with the Social Democrats after it took second place in the election.

"If three people are under one blanket, the one in the middle is in the best position," said Gilman. "I understand it is easier for the Social Democrats to be in a coalition with Fatherland, which is supported by Latvian voters. They say they are our friends, but they are afraid of losing Latvian votes at the next election.

"But I am not sure this council will be as stable as the last one. Councilors can no longer be trustees of state companies so their voting habits are less predictable."

But Social Democrat councilors were emphasizing the importance of preventing further privatization of state-owned infrastructure. "We want to maintain a balance between private and state-owned property," said Orvils Henins, a councilor for the Social Democrats. "We're trying to protect the interests of a larger section of the population."

Aivars Ozolins, a columnist at the daily newspaper Diena, echoed Gilman's doubts about the coalition's stability. "This will deepen Fatherland's role in the coalition, but Vaidere is not responsible for any committees or funds, unlike the mayor (Bojars) and the other deputy mayor (Dolgopolovs). I don't see how the influence of For Human Rights can really be minimized, as Fatherland is claiming."