“Two things kill in politics. One kills very quickly – being caught lying. The other is long-term arrogance,” said 14th Saeima deputy Didzis Šmits in his interview to Artuss Kaimiņš’s show “Suņu būda V2.0”, commenting on Latvian Prime Minister Evikas Siliņa’s infamous “Don’t choke, don’t vomit!” jab to her former colleague.
“We’ve put together a budget consisting of money we don’t have,” Šmits sadly concluded. The opposition deputy referenced the words of Iron Lady, once the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013), who said “there is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers’ money”. “If someone promises to give you more, interpret it this way – first they will take a lot more from you, and then, if you’re lucky, you might get something back,” said Didzis Šmits.
As for Rail Baltica, the Saeima deputy had this to say: “There is so much crap, there is no way to sweep it all under the rug. We can plan whatever we want, plan things to be this way, it will come out, just not today… or next year… or the year after that. There is no money set aside in the budget for anything – not the Riga connection, not the straight line, not a single track piece. There is no EU funding to take and there won’t be any money at least until 2030.”
When asked about the support beam driven into Daugava River for the needs of Rail Baltica, Didzis Šmits said it will remain there. He also said it is worth thinking how much Latvia could have bought for defence using this money.
As for the possible changes within the ruling coalition, the opposition deputy said that if it depended on Evika Siliņa and three parties forming the coalition, nothing would change until 2026. “I think changes will come not because Siliņa or the coalition want them, but because changes will happen because they are needed for survival. Everyone can feel it, even Riga Castle and Edgars Rinkēvičs. He was the one who nominated this prime minister. This coalition was composed largely because he was elected as President. No matter what he says how much the Constitution permits him or prevents him from doing – there is his responsibility in all of this.”
As for the President’s opportunities to influence the political process, Didzis Šmits reminded that Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, too, had few opportunities, but she accomplished everything she wanted in the end. “Rinkēvičs is close to that level, and he has all opportunities to influence political processes even without amendments to the Constitution. They are afraid of him now. And if he doesn’t use this, if every next government keeps getting lazier, if our economy continues failing, if the standard of living continues and if everything keeps going getting worse and worse, then it’s his responsibility. He cannot avoid his responsibility,” said Didzis Šmits.
The experienced politician also slightly lifted the curtain on the backstage of political intrigue in his interview. He said, for example, why Krišjānis Kariņš’s second government basically overthrew itself.
The entire interview is available here.