They Argued Again! The «Green Farmers» Voted Against the Prime Minister«s Proposal 0 16

The discussion around the initiative for Latvia to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention today moved to the government meeting. At the request of the Prime Minister, Minister of Welfare Rainis Uzuliņš (whose ministry is responsible for the implementation of this convention) presented a report on the implementation of measures to prevent and combat domestic violence. After the report, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa proposed to adopt a protocol decision of the Cabinet indicating that the government is against Latvia's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. This proposal sparked protests from ministers of the Union of Greens and Farmers (UGF). They stated that the question of whether to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention is entirely within the competence of the Saeima, and the government should not interfere in the discussions of the deputies - after all, we are a parliamentary republic and the system of separation of powers is in effect.

The UGF ministers also criticized the convention itself: "The Istanbul Convention offers an ideological, rather than a practical approach to the problem, as its content is largely based not on specific tools for combating violence, but on an ideological view of the so-called 'social gender' (Gender)."

Notably, after the meeting, the leader of the Union of Greens and Farmers, Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze, issued a special opinion. In his statement, he emphasized, among other things, that "the goals of the convention overlap with existing Latvian legislation. Latvia's regulatory framework, even before the ratification of the convention, contained the necessary legal norms protecting against violence - both in the criminal law and in the Law on the Protection of Children's Rights, as well as in the Law on Social Services and Social Assistance. After ratification, amendments were also made to the legislation protecting against violence. Crisis lines, social services, and police mechanisms are available. The convention did not create new practical opportunities for victims but only added additional bureaucracy and ideological discussion."

It seems that the 'Green Farmers' are determined to go all the way and, together with the opposition in the Saeima, to achieve Latvia's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. The relevant draft law will be addressed by the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee in its first reading tomorrow.