You will answer for the convention! The Saeima commission has begun discussing a hot topic 0 24

The last time there was a full house at this commission was during the discussion of the ratification of the border treaty with Russia, when the radical part of the then parliament demanded to "return Abrene." At that time, crowds of protesters also gathered near the Saeima...

What was disputed

Yesterday, activists from several non-governmental organizations "besieged" the parliament in the morning, loudly protesting against the opposition's initiative for Latvia to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention. Activists from leftist and liberal organizations and parties attempted to portray those advocating for Latvia's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention as almost supporters of domestic violence.

However, the deputies who supported the initiative to denounce the convention repeatedly stated that they are categorically against any violence. In fact, it is not the convention that protects women, children, and, by the way, men from violence, but Latvian legislation.

In any case, the very bill on withdrawal from the convention caused a serious political earthquake and nearly led to a government crisis. As is known, the opposition's demarche to withdraw from the convention was supported by the "green farmers" who are part of the government.

Siliņa confused the Saeima and the government

It is noteworthy that the day before yesterday's consideration of the bill in the Saeima commission, the situation was attempted to be influenced by... Evika Siliņa. Let us remind you that she instructed the head of the Ministry of Welfare, Reinis Uzuliņieks (Union of Greens and Farmers), to report on how the principles of this convention, ratified by the Saeima back in November 2023, are being implemented in Latvia. It is the Ministry of Welfare that is responsible for implementing the principles of the convention in Latvian society and legislation.

After the minister's report, the Prime Minister proposed to record in the minutes of the Cabinet meeting that the government opposes Latvia's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. This fixation of Mrs. Siliņa caused protests from ministers of the Union of Greens and Farmers. They urged not to involve the government in the parliamentary discussion.

The "green farmers" reminded that Latvia is a parliamentary republic and that we have a system of separation of powers. The question of withdrawal from the convention is within the competence of the Saeima.

"This is an ideological document"

The leader of the Union of Greens and Farmers, Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze, even made a special statement: "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'."

"The goals of the convention overlap with existing Latvian legislation. The regulatory framework in Latvia, even before the ratification of the convention, contained necessary legal norms protecting against violence – both in the criminal law, and in the Law on the Protection of Children's Rights, and in the Law on Social Services and Social Assistance. After ratification, changes were also made to the legislation to protect against violence. Crisis lines, social services, and police mechanisms are available. The convention did not create new practical opportunities for victims, but only created additional bureaucracy and ideological discussion," stated Armands Krauze.

"Scare tactics" from ministries

In any case, the main battle over whether the convention should exist or not has already shifted to the parliament.

Yesterday, in the premises of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Commission, there was indeed no room for an apple to fall — invited experts and journalists stood in the aisles, as there were not enough seats for everyone. It should be noted that in this commission, the opposition holds the majority, and considering that the "green farmers" also support withdrawal from the convention, the defenders of the convention in the commission — deputies from the "New Unity" and "Progressives" factions — have virtually no chance of defeating the initiative to withdraw from the convention.

Therefore, they applied the only possible tactic under the circumstances — stalling the issue. Representatives of the ministries controlled by "New Unity" — foreign affairs, education, and justice — rushed to present reports on the harm of withdrawing from the convention.

Parliamentary secretaries and advisors from these ministries provided various arguments. They argued that in the event of withdrawal from the convention, Latvia's international reputation would suffer (after all, we recently obtained a non-permanent member seat on the UN Security Council), and that refusal from the convention would complicate real protection for both those who have suffered from violence and those who may be subjected to various forms of domestic violence in the future.

Stalling the issue

Opponents of withdrawal from the convention insisted that the Saeima commission should first conduct broad discussions on the matter and should not rush to vote.

Again, supporters of maintaining the convention in Latvia "remembered" that the opposition did not attach an annotation to its bill — stating the reasons why deputies want to achieve Latvia's withdrawal from the convention and what the potential consequences of such a step might be. As a result, it was decided that the authors of the bill would prepare an annotation after all.

After nearly two hours of discussion, the chairwoman of the commission, Inara Mūrniece (National Alliance), postponed further discussion for a week. Thus, the discussion will continue on October 15, and it is not certain that the deputies will reach the adoption of the bill in the first reading. Thus, the stalling tactic is currently working. The goal of the stalling is not to allow the bill to be adopted in the final reading before the budget is approved. After all, this convention could indeed collapse the government.

Are we going to solve real problems?

The dances around the convention are all very interesting and even amusing, but one can agree with the president — this topic is hardly the most important for Latvian society.

It is much more important to understand what the authorities are planning (if they are planning) to do to address the pressing problems of the country — still very high inflation (which amounted to 4.1% again for the quarter), weak economic growth, and a very significant increase in the country's debt obligations. There is not enough money in the treasury to provide timely and effective medical assistance, the demographic crisis is worsening...

It is clear that many politicians — both those in favor of the Istanbul Convention and those against it - benefit from such a distraction to secondary issues.