Return back from the Mediterranean coast was peaceful and I found that there were no substantial events taking place in Latvia. My predictions about 3 to 5 thousand trade union representatives was overtly optimistic, because only 1500 showed up. In the meantime official statistics showed that Latvian schools miss 457 teachers and about 900 policemen/women are not on duty this year. There is not exact data about missing medical personell but my own aunt (who happens to be a nurse at the Stradina Hospital in order to earn extra to her pension) omenously warned me not to happen to be taken to the hospital on Friday, bacause there are slight chances of dying due to unattentiveness during the weekend when there are no doctors on duty...
Tomorrow is significat day in Latvia because it might draw a line of no return for the present governing coalition. Prosecutor general announced today that the Head of the Anti Corruption Agency Mr Loskutovs has not breeched his mandate and should not be fired, BUT, that a decision of pardoning/firing he left into hands of PM. PM already announced that Mr Loskutovs must go and his conviction was underlined by his old time chum Mr Dzintars Janudzeikars (First Christian Party). The latter happened to squeeze into parliament due to his party member becoming a minister, and thus he was quickly voted to become the head of the Saeima Commission of Internal Security affairs. But the talk is not about the old boys network here, but about another event taking place in Riga on the same day.
The Ambassador of the United States in Latvia Mrs Todd Bailey will deliver lecture in the University of Latvia about the transformative diplomacy principles, the ones that State Secretary Condoleeza Rice elaborated for the first time at the University of Goergotown speech in 2006. The radical Latvian media already tried to announce that the speech is intrusion of Americans in Latvia's domestic affairs. However, the same radical media does not even try to comprehend that the governance style of the ruling coalition gave a cause to Madam Ambassador to deliver such speech on such an omenous day. It is only obvious, that on the day when government of the NATO ally plans to disregard one of the basic principles of a liberal democratic regime - respect of the opinion of opposition in matters of constitutional norms, thus undermining the democratic regime itself - leading member of the defense alliance tries to reiterate, while only in academic format, that same principles Latvian government agreed on prior omenous events in 2004, still oblige Latvian government to behave as a respectable partner in the family of democratic states. It is a probably not a coincidence that the Ambassador of the United States must come up with such a speech in times of domestic turmoil in Latvia. But in the meantime it is a shame that Latvian political elite has returned to the Soviet practices of governance just three years after accession of this country to the NATO and the EU. Even former president of Latvia Madam Vike Freiberga dimplomatically announced today that the US ambassador would probably deliver speech which she would reccommend to several members of the present political elite. Thus, shall the words be heard tomorrow and tactical backup movement made, thus saving face of Latvia in front of our Western partners?
My isntincts tell me that the decision about removal of Mr Loskutovs from the office shall be postponed, and it would probably be announced in the official press statement, that there was a lack of evidence or similar phony excuse. However, in the long run it would not save Mr Loskutovs from loosing his job, because while openly confronting the US ambassador would be foolish tactics, then removiong him later would still fullfill the initial plan of saving many crooks' skin. The key of change is Latvian citizenry! Thus, the speech of the Madam Ambassador should be taken as a certain signal for citizens to foster establishment of participatory democracy rather than a hint for regime change. Shall wait for the news, because 16th of October could serve as a formative event for return of the present 'sovereign democracy' into the framework of liberal democracy and rule of law where actually nobody is above the law. Fingers crossed mates!
4 comments:
Did our old friend Bruce Jackson just pan the ambassador and criticise her comments? I'm not thrilled she has to say things like this -- and it should have been said by a homegrown politician -- but it needs to be said.
And what is Bruce Jackson doing? Helping Yanukovich in Ukraine? He's tainted, my friend...
To anonymous:
Did not understand your question?? Bruce Jackson may have his opinions, but I still stick to my opinion that her speech was coordinated with the State Department within the new framework of the Condy Rice transformational diplomacy framework.
Oh, I do not doubt that there was co-ordination and that Dan Fried probably came up with it. Funny how neo-con Bruce is attacking neo-con Condy and friends... This is the sign the Bush days are over, his minions are turning on each other...
m
Hi,
Yes, days of Bush allmighty are over and minions are infighting, and Latvian boors do not understand it, dammmn. The most ironic isue here is that within context of Todd Bailey speech I am starting to hear reminiscences of 1940........
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