“We were promised a restart of the government. It was decided to make it more dynamic. All they’ve done so far is dynamically run their mouths. But don’t see any results. This, I believe, creates major problems,” said Mayor of Ogre Egils Helmanis in an interview to Artuss Kaimiņš’s programme “Suņu būda V2.0”.
Egils Helmanis believes that in the context of big politics, Latvia has been going in the wrong direction for several decades. Namely, the heads of public administrations or institutions are not appointed because they are strongest professionals who have the power and can do something, but because they are the most obedient. Commenting on this situation, the Mayor of Ogre emphasises that the country thus remains weak and we can no longer achieve our goals.
Egils Helmanis states that at the moment there are quite pronounced mediocrities in the Latvian government. However, when Artuss Kaimiņš asked him whether the public wants the so-called “alphas” to be in power in the country, Helmanis said no. “This feeling can only occur when we fall to the lowest point,” he says and asserts that we [Latvia] are “still falling.” He also refers to the statement made at the Munich Security Conference by the Vice-President of the United States that “Europe is fighting democracy and is trying to bring to power only those who are beneficial to the ruling clique. The same will happen with the admission to official secrets. In fact, the mayor is cleared to access official secrets by the people who elected him or her.”
When asked whether the mayor will need a permit to access official secrets after the upcoming municipal elections, Helmanis said yes. “We’re going further down the stairs. We have made the public sector weak and we will also make weak local government leaders who do not speak up.” The Mayor of Ogre emphasizes that this is how we weaken the country.
The long-standing member of the National Alliance also points out that in big politics, the state budget holder has real power. “And this is the Prime Minister together with the Minister of Finance. It all depends on it,” the Mayor of Ogre municipality said.
The entire interview can be viewed in video format here.