Despite the amendments to the law that provide the requirement for political leadership of local governments to receive access to official secrets, mayors still in power without access to state secrets be a reality after all, said Minister of Smart Administration and Regional Development Inga Bērziņa in an interview to TV3 programme “900 seconds”.
She said after municipal elections, when the requirement for mayors and their deputies to have access to official secrets comes into force, it may turn out expectations of these amendments have been higher than reality.
There may be situations when a mayor without access to official secrets will be able to continue holding office unless councillors decide otherwise, because it will be up to them whether such a municipal head is able to retain his or her position, said Bērziņa, adding that it is unlikely the coalition that put a specific mayor in office in the first place could decide to remove the mayor just because he or she does not have access to official secrets.
Bērziņa explained expectations were high for this law. However, what the law provides now only reflects the legislator’s political will.
The minister also said she has yet to receive any information about any heads of municipal councils not receiving access to official secrets. There is only a handful who have had the term to receive access to official secrets extended.
As previously reported, the 1st of June marked the coming into force of the requirement for executive directors and their deputies to submit a request to a state security institution to be provided access to official secrets.
At the end of March, the Saeima adopted in its final reading the amendments to the Local Government Law proposed by the President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs, which, after the next elections of local governments, will oblige local government leaders and their deputies to request admission to official secrets.
Municipal leaders will not automatically lose office if they are not provided access to official secrets. It was mentioned during discussions – if the head of local governments does not receive access, it could be assessed what action should be taken by both the local government council and the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development.
On the other hand, in relation to the executive directors or deputy executive directors of a local government,
the Local Government Law imposes a mandatory obligation to obtain admission to official secrets.
If a special permit for access to official secrets is not obtained, then the executive director or deputy executive director of the municipality will have to be removed from office.