The project was submitted by the "Latvia First" party (LPM), and it was also supported by the National Alliance (NA), the "United List" (OS), "Stability!" and some deputies from the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZKS), which is part of the coalition.
At the same time, no deputy opposed it. One abstained.
The decision caused a resonance.
"Why do we need to join a club of countries that spread myths about the Istanbul Convention created by Russia?" asked deputy Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica from the "New Unity" party. "All EU countries have signed the convention or have already fully ratified it. We cannot follow the Turkish path — we have different values." She emphasized that "withdrawing will lower Latvia's reputation: the strength of a small state lies in its good name."
According to Kalniņa-Lukaševica, ambassadors of allied countries and deputies from Ukraine have already urged the Saeima not to take this step.
Deputy Gatis Liepiņš reminded that the convention changed criminal law practice. Now, domestic violence cases are initiated without a victim's statement. "None of the myths about 'gender ideology' have been confirmed. The convention is not a symbol, but an obligation to work against violence," he said.
Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Lauma Paegļkalna noted that Latvia would be the only country in Europe to refuse the document it itself signed and ratified. "Myths and half-truths are being confused to justify the need to withdraw. But the Constitutional Court has recognized that the convention complies with the Satversme," she stated.
The "Progressives" sharply criticized the move. Deputy Edmunds Cepurītis called the initiative "a disgraceful stain that will haunt the parliament." "This is an example of how the parliament harms society when it uses entrusted power irresponsibly," he said.
The leader of the faction Andrejs Šuvajevs added that opponents of the document "mock victims and spread conspiracy theories, humiliating the parliament and Latvian society."
He reminded of the call from the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Theodor Rusopulos not to support the withdrawal.
Opponents of the convention insisted that it promotes social concepts incompatible with Latvian values.
Deputy Marģers Jencītis (LPM) stated: "The Trojan horse of the Istanbul Convention is social gender. This is part of a neo-communist ideology, far surpassing Marxist dreams of equality."
Former Minister of Welfare Ramona Petraviča is convinced that the convention "serves ideological purposes and promotes gender reassignment operations as a trendy phenomenon." "We are a sovereign country, not some schoolgirl. Withdrawal is a political decision, not a legal one," she said.
Some deputies, including Gunārs Kutris (ZKS), argued that "even before the Istanbul Convention, there were no 'dark times' in Latvia, and people will not start hitting each other if we withdraw from the agreement."
According to him, seven EU countries did not recognize the Latvian declaration attached to the ratification — and ZKS did not want to succumb to "foreign pressure on the values of the Satversme."
