What Needed to be Proved: Will Manabalss.lv Become 'Pocket-sized'? 0 10

The document emphasizes that the platform has been an important tool for citizen participation in policy-making for almost 15 years — more than 140 initiatives have been proposed on it, of which 83 have been included in regulations, including constitutional amendments. According to the deputies of JV, a permanent funding mechanism is necessary to strengthen public participation in the decision-making process.

Earlier, the team of 'Manabalss.lv' called on the Saeima to ensure a permanent funding mechanism for the platform's activities as a state order to perform a function important for society. "Today, Latvian democracy is under attack — through narratives, ideas, hybrid attacks, and threats of military invasion," stated the head of the organization, Imants Breidaks, in a media address.

He noted that if the 'Manabalss.lv' platform no longer exists, everyone will feel its absence. "Citizens will no longer have the opportunity to gift their ideas to Latvia, and then you and all of us will only have elections to influence political processes — once every four years," Breidaks pointed out, highlighting that politicians are usually willing to listen to the people only a year before elections, but not in their everyday work.

The 'Manabalss.lv' team indicates that since 2011, when the organization was founded, more than 140 initiatives have been submitted to the Saeima through the platform it created, of which 83 became laws. In response to the call for the Saeima to develop a permanent funding mechanism for the digital democratic infrastructure — 'Manabalss.lv' — a petition is being launched to submit this initiative to parliament.

The 'Manabalss' project is implemented by the 'Sabiedrības līdzdalības fonds', whose board includes Breidaks, Signes Valtiņa, and Valdis Porņieks.