Lawmakers Changed Their Minds About Leaving the Istanbul Convention. What Will Happen Now? 0 8

So, the opponents of Latvia's exit from the Istanbul Convention - the deputies of "New Unity" and the "Progressives" party can pop the champagne today - they have achieved a political victory. At least, at this stage. Let us remind you that the day before, the president decided to return the bill on leaving the Istanbul Convention back to the Saeima with a call... not to consider it at all in this legislative term.

As is known, 56 deputies voted for the bill, and if all these deputies had decided to maintain their principles, they could have voted for the bill again, and Rinkēvičs would have been forced to sign it. However, it has already become clear today that some parliamentarians have "changed their minds" and lean towards agreeing with the president's position, meaning that the issue of denouncing the convention will not be raised again in this Saeima.

Initially, this decision was made by the deputies of the United List, and then the representatives of the National Alliance effectively backed down: "The National Alliance faction will respect the call of President Edgars Rinkēvičs to make a decision on the Istanbul Convention in the next Saeima.

The National Alliance supports the possibility of transferring the decision on the denouncement of the convention to a nationwide vote and will seek ways to prevent the ideological risks of the Istanbul Convention and interpretations of individual articles in constructive discussions in the long term."

De facto, this means that the supporters of leaving the convention no longer have a majority. In this situation, the "Green Farmers" coalition members have no reason to "persist," quarrel with the president, and vote for a quick reconsideration of the bill.

It can be assumed that this bill will be thrown in the trash. But this will not prevent the parties "Latvia First" and "Stability!" from using the topic of the convention in their election campaign, as they have not changed their position.