Two years after Evika Siliņa (New Unity) became Prime Minister, several positive things have been achieved, yet overall her government would deserve a “3” on a 5-point scale, said Andris Bite, President of the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia (LDDK).
Today marks the second anniversary of the government led by Siliņa.
Meanwhile, a TV3-commissioned “Kantar” poll of about 800 respondents aged 18 to 65 gave Siliņa’s government an average rating of 3.9 out of 10. Of these, 15% rated it 7–10 points, 20% gave it 5 or 6, 47% gave only 1–4 points, and the rest had no opinion.
Bite listed as positives the fact that the Latvian government has consistently maintained its support for war-torn Ukraine: “That is good, because it’s no secret that some Western countries do not see what is happening there as something serious,” he said.
Latvia, on the other hand, continues to clearly voice support for Ukraine and provide financial and other forms of assistance, he noted. He also highlighted the progress made in the tax reform related to labour taxes.
However,
Bite criticised Siliņa’s government for failing to mobilise society given the existing threats:
“The situation is much more serious than they are trying to tell us. A different mode needs to be switched on,” he stressed. He also said the government has not chosen either of the two possible paths for balancing the economy — a rapid growth push or an austerity mode. While the lack of an economic breakthrough could be linked to the current geopolitical situation, no real austerity measures have been introduced either, he argued.
“There is a lot of talk but little action,” Bite said, adding that current talk about spending cuts refers only to next year’s budget baseline, which “is not austerity but eyewash”.
As a result, according to Bite, to balance people’s expectations for a good life with growing security challenges, the government keeps increasing public debt: “This will create problems for us and our children,” he said, pointing out that debt servicing costs are also rising.
Bite believes this happens because Latvia is ruled by politicians, not statesmen and stateswomen: “No one wants to introduce austerity because everyone wants to be re-elected in next year’s parliamentary elections,” he argued. “This is the refusal to take unpleasant decisions in order to stay in power — and as a society, this will cost us dearly,” the LDDK leader concluded.
As reported, Siliņa became Prime Minister on the 15th of September 2023, after receiving the support of 53 MPs in the Saeima, following the resignation of former PM Krišjānis Kariņš on the 17th of September.
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