A popular saying: if the ruling parties suddenly support opposition initiatives – it means elections are coming soon, and the ruling parties, on one hand, fear offending potential voters, and on the other hand – they are already making small gestures towards the opposition with an eye on cooperation after the elections.
In this sense, the last plenary session of the Saeima was a precise illustration of such political marketing.
In Care for the People
At first, the ruling parties agreed to send two almost identical initiatives from the opposition National Alliance and the party "Latvia First" to the Saeima committee. The opposition members unanimously advocated for the right to automatic inheritance of savings in the second pension level.
Then, "New Unity" and the "Green Farmers" also played along with the opposition United List, which, along with the National Alliance, hurried to prepare amendments aimed at finally removing the Russian language from public media.
In the first case, the ruling parties showed that they care about the rights of holders of savings in the second pension level and their closest relatives. The current law is apparently deliberately drafted so that if a person did not manage or even did not know that they had to make a mark allowing relatives to inherit their savings, those savings effectively go to the state!
The amendments, if adopted, will relieve a person of the need to mark anything – in the event of their death before reaching retirement age, the savings will automatically be inherited by their relatives.
With an Eye on Voters
In principle, the ruling parties gain only advantages from supporting such an initiative – they cannot be accused of unwillingness to eliminate the obvious injustice in the law. Moreover, sending it to the committee does not guarantee the law's adoption! If they wish, the ruling parties can ensure that these opposition initiatives are buried in the relevant committee – they simply will not be considered in this Saeima. By the way, read on page 10 about how laws are buried in Latvia.
In other words, the ruling parties, by voting to send it to the committee, risk nothing. For the same reason, politicians in power also voted for sending the "language" amendments to the committee. Interestingly, just after the vote, the "Progressives" party issued a statement that "New Unity" voted for the United List / National Alliance project in violation of previously reached agreements.
Namely: the ruling party allegedly promised the "Progressives" to support other language amendments prepared by the Council for Public Electronic Media based on a recent verdict from the Constitutional Court. But in the end, the "Progressives" were deceived.
But You Promised!
"An agreement was reached in the coalition to jointly promote the amendments prepared by the Council for Public Electronic Media (CPEM) regarding the content of public media in foreign languages to fulfill the ruling issued by the Constitutional Court on March 30.
The amendments prepared by CPEM provide for changes to the Law on Public Electronic Media and their management, establishing that they have the opportunity, but are not obliged, to create content in foreign languages, including the languages of national minorities.
Instead, "New Unity" decided to propose at the Saeima meeting on April 30 the initiated amendments together with the opposition United List and National Alliance, although an agreement had previously been reached that it would be inappropriate to promote other conceptual proposals besides those prepared by the public media regulator – CPEM.
We agreed that CPEM would meet with the factions to discuss this issue. It is unclear why "New Unity" broke its word and decided to promote proposals with the opposition that do not align with CPEM's vision," stated Andris Šuvaev, chairman of the parliamentary faction of the "Progressives" party.
Political Amnesia
The outrage is quite justified. It seems, however, that either it is aimed at an uninformed public that does not follow the political process, or Šuvaev and Co. have experienced some kind of eclipse – perhaps they were struck by retrograde Mercury. After all, they issued their statement right after they THEMSELVES VOTED FOR THIS LANGUAGE BILL!
Yes, the deputies from the "Progressives" faction initially unanimously supported including this bill in the agenda, and then pressed the "yes" button during the vote on sending the bill to the Saeima committee. Moreover, the offended Andris Šuvaev himself pressed the "yes" button!
Already Looking for Allies After the Elections
It is hard to say who promised what to the "Progressives," but in the run-up to the elections, each party is saving itself.
Firstly, "New Unity" is rapidly losing popularity (according to recent ratings) and is frantically trying to show its patriotic nationalism: hence the support for the initiatives of the National Alliance and even the organization of a conference dedicated to the consequences of Russification.
Secondly, "New Unity" understands that it is unlikely they, together with the "Progressives," will gain 51 percent of the votes in the Saeima. Thus, it is evident that if "New Unity" does not want to remain in opposition, this political force will have to forget about its current allies and seek partners on the nationalist flank. The "Progressives" have excellent chances of ending up on the sidelines of the road leading to political power in Latvia – they simply have no potential allies. Therefore, "New Unity" is already voting with an eye on the post-election situation.
When Allies Become Competitors
In the coming weeks and months, the Saeima will be very interesting. As the elections approach, the boundaries between the ruling parties and the opposition will blur.
Moreover, the struggle will unfold not only between parties but also... among politicians within the same party! Yes, it should not be forgotten that candidates for deputies, in order to take a place in the sun, that is, to get into the next Saeima, must outpace their colleagues within the list.
A vivid example: the Minister of Economics and candidate for prime minister from the Union of Greens and Farmers, Viktors Valainis, proposed an amendment to the new immigration bill that allows citizens of third countries to obtain a residence permit by purchasing real estate. It turned out that Valainis's party colleagues in the Saeima have already warned: they do not support such an amendment from their comrade!
It is understandable: deputies are already thinking about how their Latvian voters in the provinces will react. And rural residents are inherently negative towards all "outsiders," especially wealthy "outsiders." Moreover, it does not matter what language they speak – English, Russian, or Arabic.
In general, there will definitely be no boredom in Latvian politics before the elections!
