Friday, June 1, 2007

Presidential elections - a day after

Elections are over and life must go on again in Latvia. The overheated atmosphere is still around us and the Latvian public must learn new modus vivendi now. The first press conference of the newly elected president was PR disaster and I wonder why wasn't there an interpreter and press secretary present?

Rather symbolically the incumbent president did not participate in the parliementary session because she was on her visit to Daugavpils. Thus, the successor in the presidential office did not get customary congatulations from the incumbent holder of the office. Allegations about the illegal payments received from the patients shall hang over the head of the doctor president unless he is going to be able to surpass his People's Party entourage and somehow also his own vices.

He has not written a doctoral dissertation and a person of his stature should feel it subconciously. Shall see, how the incumbent president shall behave, and, whether the subconconciouss underachievement is not going to deter him from his idealist plans to implement transparent and honest governance in Latvia. Anyway he has promised to settle his outstanding financial debts to the Latvian Internal revenue Service next week, and he bravely promised to bring an order to the payment system in the sphere of medicine until his oath of inauguration in July 8. Lets wait and see how successfull he would appear, and, wheter there is something concrete behind his somehow incoherent speech.

He has promised to tour Lithuanian and Estonian capitals in his first state visits and Toomas Hendrik Ilves already congratulated him. Yet, it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that coordinates presidential foreign visits, thus president's rush might be explained with his relative inexperience.

His entourage shall explain us in upcoming weeks how truly independent he will be. The society in Latvia is boiling and it will require titanic efforts from him to consolidate the society. It is not only along the ethnic lines the society is split today, but also along the socio-economic lines and intelligentsia and political elite relations in Latvia are at all time low. Huh, huh, shall see how all this rollercoaster Latvian politics would evolve until the popular referendum in July 7. Some folks say that 07.07.07 date is omenous, thus shall it be omenous also for demos in Latvia?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

VS - was the post-election press conference a PR disaster only? :-)

Veiko Spolitis said...

Considering the fact that it was governing coalition who proposed him, why did they throw him into the jungle of the media grinding while he is still inexperienced (they knew it, but still did that???)

It is not early 1990's when G.Ulmanis inexperience was accepted due to the lack of democratic traditions, but since then seventeen years have passed, common Latvian public:)

But what is your question exactly?

Anonymous said...

Oh, yes. I am also wondering why the leading coalition has been so lazy (???) in prepping him for all this. But then, some may say that perhaps this was exactly their purpose, I just do not know for what reason.

My question was rather an ironic one. For me, this was not just an example of bad PR; for me as a Latvian citizen this is a disaster of democracy, political professionality and, after all, patriotism. I know this standpoint is an emotional one, but ok - it is shared by quite a few fellow citizens these days.

Let's see him in a press event in one year. Maybe earlier.

Anonymous said...

do you read estonian blogs?

http://palun.blogspot.com/
http://blog.tr.ee/

Veiko Spolitis said...

Toivo, ja mida sa sellega tahtsid öelda??

Veiko Spolitis said...

Zuzanna, I am writing a piece for www.politika.lv now, where I shall elaborate on the future scenarious in Latvia after presidential elections, thus you'll be updated and your questions will be answered:)

Anonymous said...

Actually, he said that he WOULD like to go to EE and LT first, but recognised that its going to be decided and organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Veiko Spolitis said...

thank you for corrections Puuce, must check on that myself:)

Anonymous said...

"Korrupt kirurg er ny præsident i Letland

Kirurg, der tog mod pengegaver fra patienter, valgt som ny præsident."

Oh, what a wonderful quote. The joys of being a polyglot, eh? Veik, sorry, but now you go through what we call the "Rüütel period" for Latvia.

At least he looks positively Nordic comparing to the fallen knight...