Chairman of Daugavpilc City Council Andrejs Elksniņš reports he has decided to leave political party Harmony and found a new regional political party.
The politician reminded that in spring 2020 he had mentioned the need to create a regional platform in Daugavpils that would unite people capable of thinking on a regional scale and defend Latgale’s interests on a national level.
«Since then the number of similarly-minded people has only increased. These people, like me, believe the ruling elite in the country has a subjective opinion of our region. They ignore our region’s interests and are unable to hear and understand the residents of Daugavpils, Rezekne, Kraslava, Preili and our other region’s other cities. The time has come for these people to unite in a serious organisation,» claims Elksniņš.
He believes results of the 14th Saeima elections made it clear Harmony is no longer able to play the role of this unifying force.
«The values and directions Harmony had at the beginning are long since forgotten. Personal interests have become more important then the interests of majority voters. Everything happens for a reason: if investments aren’t made and efforts aren’t put in, eventually the time comes when there is no way back,» believes the politician.
Elksniņš says the defeat in Saeima elections was not the «cold shower» that was supposed to encourage the party to unite and refresh the idea for harmony within Latvia’s society. It turned out the opposite, in fact. Leaders of the party have failed to find a mutual compromise.
The politician says he has noticed that the party is in the middle of infighting for power, and participants are not shy to use all kinds of ticks, starting with open populism in an attempt to please potential voters, and ending with attempts to publicly destroy competitors.
Elkniņš believes the Harmony of today is following «trends», dividing both their own people and Latvia’s residents into the «right» and the «wrong» groups. He finds this unacceptable, which is why he has decided to found a new party. First he plans to found one in Daugavpils, Latgale. Later on he plans
to look for similarly-minded people in all of Latvia.
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) previously took notice of the public statements made by Elkniņš and Mayor of Rezekne Aleksandrs Bartaševičs about the demolition of Soviet monuments and the war in Ukraine. On the 10th of November 2022 VDD held an interview with Elkniņš and on the 16th of November – with Bartaševičs.
Both officials provided explanations about their public statements. They were also warned of liability in the event of a criminal act. VDD refrains from commenting on the interviews in more detail.
More on this topic: Authorities take notice of Rezekne mayor’s controversial take on Soviet monuments and war in Ukraine