The President of Latvia at a press conference convened on the occasion of the infamous Istanbul Convention reiterated his thesis that the election campaign has started unusually early this time. "According to the forecasts" of the head of state, the election campaign was supposed to start in the spring of next year, as the elections are only in October 2026.
One way or another, politicians have decided to act "not according to the president's forecast," but based on their own considerations and plans. As a result, political life will be bustling for the next 11 months leading up to the elections. It won't be boring! What political agenda awaits us and what key bills will the current parliament have to adopt in the context of a heated election campaign?
Finance and Pension Reform
In the first days of December, the parliament — unless the government collapses before that — is expected to approve the 2026 budget in its final reading and a whole package of budget-related bills, including the pension reform based on years of service. One cannot rule out the scenario in which the Silin government is ordered to live long until December, and the budget is not adopted until a new government is formed. This means that the 2026 budget will be adopted only in January-February, and until then, the state will operate under the laws of the 2025 budget.
If anyone thought that the adoption of the bill to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention would end all the dancing around this convention, they were mistaken! The president decided to return this bill for revision to the Saeima, and thus this issue has returned to the agenda!
Who is the Attorney General here?
During this pre-election period, the parliament will also have to address an important... personnel issue. The Council on Judicial Affairs must finally decide on a suitable candidate for the post of Attorney General. After the candidate proposed by the council is put forward, the Saeima must vote on it. If the candidate who won the competition does not receive the support of the parliamentary majority, the entire saga of selecting a candidate for Attorney General will begin anew!
After completing the budgetary struggles, the Saeima will continue working on Rinkevics' legislative initiative to ease the procedure for collecting signatures for a referendum. According to the head of state, these changes in legislation are necessary to finally de facto restore the people's ability to initiate referendums.
Residency Permits in Exchange for Investments
The deputies still have many hurdles to overcome regarding the new immigration bill. In particular, experts insist that the new law should include a provision allowing citizens of third countries who have invested significant funds in acquiring real estate in Latvia to apply for temporary residency permits. Many countries have such a bonus, which allows them to attract substantial financial resources to the country. By the way, Latvia has also made good money from the scheme "residency permits in exchange for investments in real estate."
The Saeima will likely have to revisit the issue of food prices — unfortunately, all the efforts made so far at the government level have not yielded the desired results, and Latvia is once again one of the leaders in inflation in the European Union! Perhaps something can be done in this regard at the legislative level.
It is clear that in the months leading up to the elections, the political agenda will also include the opposition's initiated collection of signatures for a referendum to prohibit the privatization of strategically important state enterprises without a decision from the Saeima, even partially.
Not a Day Without Language Issues
There is no doubt that deputies will continue to make their presence known through their favorite language issues. Fortunately, new language initiatives have already been submitted to parliament. This includes a declaration from the National Alliance calling for stricter legislation so that the Russian language is not used in public (public places) at all. Again, this is a draft resolution from the National Alliance instructing the prime minister to prohibit speaking Russian in state and municipal institutions. There is also a long-standing initiative to ban Russian subtitles for films in cinemas. Additionally, proposals from the "New Unity" deputies regarding a sharp increase in fines for violations of language legislation have already been submitted to the Saeima committee.
For the first time, the language of politics is set to be used in the economic sphere, or more precisely — in taxation. From the new year, if the corresponding amendments to the VAT Law are adopted, newspapers, magazines, and books published in Russian — including those published in Latvia — will lose their preferential VAT rate. The same tax benefits will be denied to electronic media that offer subscriptions (for a fee) to their publications. If it concerns subscriptions to publications in Russian, the subscription price will be subject to 21% VAT instead of 5%! This is a kind of innovation in the tax sphere, where the tax rate depends not on the product, not even on the content, but on the language!
Anything can be done to please one's electorate as elections approach!
Plus the Housing Issue
The Saeima will undoubtedly have to "intervene" again in the "housing" issue.
As is known, after January 1, municipalities are no longer responsible for apartment buildings, and if apartment owners have left one management company but have not de facto taken over the building themselves, a legal vacuum arises — who then manages the building, who issues bills, who maintains the building? A gap has emerged in the legislation, and deputies will have to fill it.
If Tomorrow There Is a Crisis...
Well, if the Silin government collapses, which is quite likely, then negotiations will begin on forming a new government, discussing candidates for prime ministers and ministers...
A change in the ruling coalition will also lead to a change in the composition of the Saeima presidium, and there will be a reshuffle in the leadership of parliamentary committees. In general, the deputies will have a lot of work again. And we will be watching the developments with interest...
