Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The symbol of present governing elite in Latvia - spinelessness! (updated)

It was rumoured yesterday that the president would arrive to the Saeima, the Latvian talking shop to deliver his constitutional amendments en route to Beijing Olympics. Today the president was able to deliver mere inconsequential speech scolding MP's for their lack of work ethics, abrupt end of the tripartite discussions with the trade unions, and bad communication skills. President specified that those 40% of Latvian voters who participated in Saturday's referendum wanted to dissolve the parliament and president reminded that MP's should take such a fact into consideration. Also president blamed parliamentarians for the lack of initiative and particularly blamed them for not coming out with their own version of the constitutional amendments.

The president is either naive, or he is buying more time. If he is naive then nobody can help him. If he is trying to buy more time, then I am afraid that he has no clue about the extent of discontent in the Latvian society. V. Zatlers caught media attention in Bucharest NATO summit whilst supporting Georgia's and Ukraine's aspirations to be awarded the membership action plan with his ominous phrase": "no plan, no action". To paraphrase the author of these words, "if there is no time-frame for constitutional amendments, there is no action from the Saeima". If the present Latvian MP' s are not pressured they simply lack any initiative. It seems that the president has not realized that, and foolishly believes that perhaps MP's consider him as the authority (it is enough just to read opinion of Gundars Bērziņš to learn quite the contrary).

It is not easy for the former surgeon (V.Zatlers) to understand nuances of the post-Soviet governance, and I believe that the whole speech was poorly staged show. The same speech could have been aired in radio, or TV. Why is there need for the speech if MP's are not even allowed to debate after it? After all, it was announced right after the referendum that the president called for the emergency session of the parliament (Art.20) where he planned to use his rights of legal initiative (Art.47), and thus the speech would be about the consequences of the August 2 referendum. The speaker of the parliament and presidium, who are entitled to announce the emergency session according to the Article 20 of the constitution, thought that there is a need for the presidential monologue only. Thus, as a protest the opposition New Era (JL) party members left the parliament building. In the meantime opposition parties collected 1/3 of signatures that are needed (Art.20) for calling another emergency session of the parliament.

Opposition parties (JL, Civic Union, Reconciliation Centre, Artis Pabriks and Aigars Štokenbergs) want to discuss a motion that would prepare constitutional amendments enabling no less than 1/10 of the voters to initiate dissolution of the parliament in today's emergency session. The motion stipulates that the sub-committee should be created and the bill of the constitutional amendents should be finalized until October 1, 2008 in order to pass those constitutional changes during autumn 2008 session of the parliament.

The conservative majority seems to sleep on their laurels while the discontent in the society is brooding. There is no decisive action from the majority unless they are forced so by referendums or opposition disobedience actions. Spinelessness, no rational discussions and absolute lack of the long-term political planning is the best description for the behavior of the present majority clique in the parliament. To conclude, I want to use a comment in Diena about the presidential speech by the author named Ceplis. He was poignantly true when describing today's emergency session of the parliament.

"Prezident, pabariet mūs un aizrādiet par nepadarīto, bat atcerieties, ka tikai ar mēru... nu jūs jau saprotiet, lai cilvēki domā, ka pēc tā notiks aktīva rīcība !" Kalvītis, Daudze, Šlesers u.c. koalīcijas deputāti. [Mr President, scold us and make remarks about our unperformed tasks! But in the meantime you should remember not to exaggerate...you must understand that the folks out there should simply believe in decisiveness of your speech! Kalvītis, Daudze, Šlesers a.o. governing coalition MP's ]

Updated

The Saeima emergency session is over just before 12.00CET and the opposition's demand for another emergency session was voted down. Today the Saeima official joker Juris Dobelis (TB/LNNK) was able to shine in the limelight of his own populism again. Prior voting on opposition motion J. Dobelis announced "that nothing should be done in a hurry", and continued with the idea that the referendum about constitutional amendments was a crushing defeat for the 600 000 people who came, because they are minority vis-a-vis those 900 000 naysayers or persons who did not come to referendum at all. Dobelis underlined that there are saboteurs who want to undermine stability in the republic, and he also suggested listening to the Lithuanian PM, who said to BNS another day that initiatives about constitutional amendments probably were prepared with the "methods prepared by the Kremlin's spin doctors."

So be it, and the Latvian population is scared by its so called leaders again. Prior the referendum those were PM and the speaker of the parliament, and now it is the official joker of the parliament. There are multitude of persons who listen to these scary tales, and they do not understand that it is a smokescreen for diverting attention from the fundamental problems of the Latvian governance - questionable work of legislators reflected in nonexistence of mandatory property and tax declaration system, faulty political parties financing law, criminal code and dysfunctional tax regime. Finally, the fact is that if in other European countries governing and opposition parties cannot work together because of the constitutional crisis they dissolve the parliament themselves. Latvian politicians, president included, are spineless and forgetful about the roots of the present discontent - the stolen elections in October 2006 and thus the untouchables feeling represented by the majority coalition MP's. Thus, there is no one to call for snap elections and the rat race a'la letton continues.

The head of the judicial committee Vineta Muižniece (People's Party-TP) announced that sub-committee for preparation of the constitutional amendments is being created under auspices of the judicial committee. However, there is no time-frame provided and it means that those amendments can be easily dragged through the corridors of the Latvian parliament until September 2010. So be it now until the next referendum on August 23.

No trust and accountability expected from the spineless rulers of this ...

Photo: Evija Trifanova


and this hall...

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

[url=http://seghan.ru/go.php?sid=35][img]http://s001.radikal.ru/i194/1001/f2/3b8e742581a0.jpg[/img][/url]












[url=http://powjxun.wieder-mal.de/sitemap.html]buying cigarettes over the enternet [/url]
buy cheap dunhill menthol cigarettes buy cheap winston cigarettes order cigarettes online canada
[url=http://powjxun.wieder-mal.de/]cigarettes buy on line [/url]
buy cigarettes from canada buying cigarettes for minors mail order cigarettes seneca
[url=http://qzexaua.flackert.de/]buy cigarettes overnight [/url]
buy wholesale cigarettes with money order buy me cigarettes cheap cigarettes online buy discount marlboro
[url=http://botziho.485.at/]buy cigarette papers online [/url]
buy cigarette indian reservation buy cigarettes on internet new york buy cloves cigarettes
[url=http://deuaexj.naheliegend.de/sitemap.html]laws about buying cigarettes online [/url]
eclipse cigarettes where to buy buy cigarettes from canada fake cigarettes buy
[url=http://tyouhca.xn--geglckt-q2a.de/]buy electronic cigarette in [/url]
order cigarettes marlboro newport buy herbal cigarettes online buy rothmans cigarettes
[url=http://ubpscsn.pro.ac/sitemap.html]cheap cigarettes buy can [/url]
buy cigarettes online from indians in usa be to buy cigarette buying cigarettes online taxes
[url=http://deuaexj.naheliegend.de/sitemap.html]clove cigarettes where to buy [/url]
where can i buy cigarettes online buy marlboro cigarettes online for buy cigarettes with paypal
[url=http://qzexaua.flackert.de/sitemap.html]21 to buy cigarettes [/url]
buy cigarettes online south carolina buy camel crush cigarettes cigarettes mail order
[url=http://wcsoius.biz.co.nl/sitemap.html]buy the cheapest cigarettes in [/url]
buy belmont cigarettes buy true blue cigarettes online buying cigarette receptacles calgary alberta

Anonymous said...

Watches by Thomas Sabo look exclusive due to their designs which are expressive, excellent high quality finish and range of materials. Sterling silver collection design codes are followed by these watches thus making it more attractive with thrilling novel accents, motivation and thoughts. As a result the outcome of all this is beautiful watches. There is a huge variety of watches offered by thomas sabo schmuck and you will be amazed at the collection.Around 2009, the demand for Thomas Sabo anhänger had increased immensely and hence to ensure that this demand was met, Sabo introduced 59 varied models in September 2009.

Unknown said...

Fantastic work man, keep your heads high you did it.
free shipping cigarettes

Millicent said...

For my part everybody ought to glance at this.

Anonymous said...

I am sure this post has touched all the internet people, its really really nice piece of writing on building
up new website.
My weblog ; mac baren

Anonymous said...

Very great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and
wanted to say that I've truly loved surfing around your blog posts. After all I'll be subscribing to your rss
feed and I'm hoping you write once more soon!
Feel free to visit my blog old holborn blog

Anonymous said...

Link exchange is nothing else but it is only
placing the other person's webpage link on your page at suitable place and other person will also do similar for you.
Also see my web page - van nelle

Anonymous said...

Good blog you have got here.. It's difficult to find high quality writing like yours these days. I seriously appreciate people like you! Take care!!
Feel free to visit my webpage samson review

Anonymous said...

My family always say that I am killing my time here at web, except I know I am
getting familiarity daily by reading such fastidious posts.


Here is my website: blog writing

Anonymous said...

Constipation, too much bodyweight, sitting a long time in one position,
aging etc. Avoid prolong sitting or standing and avoid wearing tight
undergarments are some of the hemorrhoid treatment
that you can also do. This can be done by adding more fiber to your diet.


My homepage Laser treatment For piles In delhi

Anonymous said...

There are several metrics to assess the efficacy of web reputation management

Feel free to visit my blog post business reputation management

Anonymous said...

Prostate cancer, along with other potentially deadly
hormone driven diseases such as breast and colon cancer claim millions of
lives each year

Feel free to visit my web page: fish oils

Anonymous said...

When covering the area, it should be enough to use a regular bandage.
Individuals who have suffered with acne look forward to
the day when they can look in the mirror and see skin that is pimple and blemish-free.
There are a wide range of self tanners to choose from at department
stores, but why not treat yourself to a spray tan at your nearest tanning salon.


Also visit my page: How to get rid of warts

Anonymous said...

In a recent AARP study of over 50 year olds what
percentage are currently in love:. Then, ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE, by using revealing to about strong aspects of you- why you appreciate your job (you do, don't you. The best way to turn a relationship started through online dating services into a real one is to remain patient and progress at a steady but slow pace.

Here is my webpage - tao of badass forum

Anonymous said...

The same reason that people buy Youtube views is why they buy Facebook fans.

Check out Brandon and Savannah's official website for a tour schedule and the latest news. It's best to put an unobtrusive scroll at
the bottom or top of the video throughout the entire song
that gives this sort of information, as that way it kind of gets drilled into the listener's head.

Here is my webpage; http://www.RushViews.com

Anonymous said...

free dating sites as hi5 http://loveepicentre.com/advice/ dating a banker anonymous
who is chelsey handler dating [url=http://loveepicentre.com/advice/]james albright dating madonna[/url] wealthy dating online free
alcoholics dating custody [url=http://loveepicentre.com/testimonials/]wendalls dating ervi[/url] who is lou diamond philips dating [url=http://loveepicentre.com/user/ugwu002/]ugwu002[/url] no cost sex dating

Anonymous said...

Even, many western scholars are now emphasizing on the fact that Islam came up with most prudent ideas through Quran.
If you have any comments or feedbacks on this issue, appears
free to voice them over at Malay Lady in to Malaysia blog.
it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise,
trouble or hard work.

Check out my webpage; khadijah islamic resources