Oligarch purge Latvian style

Latvian President Valdis Zatlers has chosen a rather unusual way to fight corruption and the oligarchs. The head of state decided to dissolve parliament, under Article 48 of the Constitution, setting a precedent for the Baltic countries. Zatlers announced his decision in a TV address on May 28. “The voting on Thursday exposed a serious conflict between the legislative and the judicial branches of power. The Saeima was in contempt of court. This occurred for the first time. The Saeima continues trading portfolios and putting the interests of individual persons above those of the state. We can see that the Saeima feels very good in this atmosphere of lies. Democracy is going to be privatized,” the president said, explaining his standpoint.

“The Saeima’s refusal to authorize the search of MP Ainars Slesers’ premises became an litmus test: does the parliament consider Latvia a rule-of-law state or is it prepared to take part in dismantling the rule-of-law,” Minister of Culture Sarmite Elerte said after meeting the president. She recalled that the only parties that had voted for the search were Unity and For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (Tevzemei un Brivibai/LNNK). Should voters support President Zatlers’ initiative to dissolve the Saeima in the referendum, ridding Latvia of its oligarchs will be the main issue in the elections to the Saeima. “This is a question of principle. All the other matters are also important, but please do not water down this fundamental question,” the minister said.

The Central Election Commission of Latvia has already announced that the referendum will be held on July 23. The question in the ballot is as follows: “Do you support dissolving the 10th convocation Saeima?” The answers can only be “yes” or “no.” The referendum will be considered valid no matter the turnout. If a sufficient number of voters support the president’s decision, the 10th Saeima will be dismissed, paving the way for an early election to the 11th Saeima. Otherwise, the president himself will have to resign.

The president’s decision has triggered all kinds of comments among politicians and voters. Juris Rozenvalds, a professor at the Latvian University, believes that the president’s decision is justifiable because there are ample grounds for changing something in Latvia’s political picture. Rozenvalds says that, from this angle, Zatlers took a courageous step, although his personal interests are also discernible. “There is a problem of corruption, oligarchs are wielding a disproportionate amount of influence, as seen in the recent scandalous parliamentary voting, but some reproaches now being addressed to the president are not unfounded either: he has some personal interest in the elections,” Rozenvalds emphasizes.

Meanwhile, the well-known economist Aleksandr Gaponenko believes that what has happened is the result of US influence. “Dissolving the Saeima will benefit nobody but the Americans who want to buy up our national wealth, first of all in the energy sector, for a song. The most important objects are the Incukalns gas storage facility, the high-voltage grids, and three hydroelectric plants on the Daugava. Next in line is the Riga port, where they want to build a storage facility for liquefied gas imported from the US. Although this project will be funded by the EU, the facility will end up as US property — I think this will be done as repayment of the IMF debt,” he explained.

Interestingly, the head of state announced the likely dissolution of parliament five days before the presidential elections scheduled for June 2. Besides, he intends to bid for a new term. The candidature of the current head of state Valdis Zatlers was nominated by the ruling bloc Unity and the alliance For a Better Latvia. His rival is Andris Berzins, a Saeima member from the Union of Greens and Farmers faction, former president of the SEB Unibanka bank, and ex-member of the Communist Party.

Under the Latvian law, the head of state is elected by Saeima members. The president should be a citizen of Latvia who has reached the age of 40. To be elected, the candidate must win at least 51 out of 100 votes. It is estimated that the number of votes from the blocs Unity, For a Better Latvia and For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK will be insufficient to reelect Zatlers.

The Day asked Atis KLIMOVIC, a journalist at the Latvian newspaper Diena, to comment on how the Latvian public assesses the situation on the eve of the presidential elections, and, in particular, the head of state’s decision to dissolve parliament.

“You should look at this as follows: who assesses? For there are different assessments of what is going on. It can be said in principle that the president is drawing support from those who have always wished Latvia to be independent and naturally oriented to the West, who want change and a normal civilized state. I have not heard a single economist say that this is bad for the economy. All leading economists have opined that striking a blow to the oligarchs will benefit the economy. In their turn, the parties that protected the Latvian oligarchs are undoubtedly against this decision of the president. Our parliament recently voted on allowing a search in an oligarch’s premises. They voted against. Incidentally, it is one of the leading coalitions of green and peasant parties run by the three best known oligarchs. Interestingly, the so-called Russian party, Harmony Center, backed the president. In my view, the presidential elections and the referendum are a very important thing and a turning point in Latvia. Political scientists believe that everything will be decided in the next elections. Undoubtedly, the president has taken a very strong step. He may have known that parliament might not elect him, but still he took a very necessary and, what is more, timely step.”

How can you explain the position of Latvian oligarchs, notably Ventspils mayor Aivars Lembergs who says that he opposes robbing pensioners of pensions, the underprivileged of social benefits, and teachers of salaries, as well as slashing funding for public health, education, science, and sport?

“He dares speak about justice and the rule of law! You should take what Ventspils Mayor Lembergs is saying with a handful of salt, for he has been showing utter contempt and cynicism for the rule-of-law for more than 10 years on end. Naturally, the part of the populace that will, in all likelihood, vote in the referendum for the dissolution has not been listening to Mayor Lembergs for a long time, and I hope our oligarchs will receive a new and strong blow.”

And what was the previous blow?

“The elections that formed the current parliamentary lineup. The oligarchs won very few seats. They did not expect this. In principle, the sword of Damocles is already hanging over them. I think their mainstays may be further shaken. Should this happen, this will mean that the pre-sident took a very necessary step. And this may be a powerful blow to corruption. Corruption is really a big headache for Latvia. It is a very important problem which Western experts, who know the situation in Latvia, are keeping an eye on.”

Experts note that Zatlers will hardly manage to garner the required number of votes in the first round. What do you think?

“It is hard to say. But still the president may win, surprisingly enough, the required 51 votes in the first round. Though, indeed, the oligarchs look scorned, as do the parties they sponsor. Yet the voting may well surprise people.”