Public officials in state administration must not be so untouchable that they are almost impossible to remove, therefore a broader civil service reform is necessary, President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs told journalists while commenting on the initiated criminal proceedings concerning suspected fraud in information technology procurements worth 1.5 million euros.
Referring to a conversation with European Prosecutor Gatis Doniks and the head of the Constitution Protection Bureau, Egils Zviedris, the President concluded that the problems concern not only election-related information technology systems, but also raise doubts about the actions of many responsible public officials. Rinkēvičs added that the degree of responsibility of each individual will be determined by the investigation.
“The level of responsibility of officials is one issue, but officials must not be so untouchable that they are almost impossible to remove. Even if they are transferred to another position, it turns out that this is still not an obstacle to being hired in another ministry and effectively allowing these individuals to continue operating unchecked,” said the President.
Rinkēvičs expressed doubt as to whether the current Saeima and government will be able to implement the necessary civil service reform. He stressed that within state administration there are “castes of untouchables rotating within their own circle, and this must not be the case.”
“I say this from my own experience. I clearly remember how public administration began operating in the 1990s and 2000s.
Something has gone wrong also with our own understanding of responsibility and accountability,”
said the President.
At the press conference, the President described as a positive step the decision by the relevant Saeima committee to urgently advance amendments to the election law in order to ensure manual vote counting. In his view, this will strengthen trust in the election process.
Rinkēvičs added that a meeting of the National Security Council will also take place, as manual vote counting is only one of the issues to be addressed.
He noted that on the 15th of April the Constitution Protection Bureau will present its assessment of security risks in other systems and provide recommendations.
As previously reported, in criminal proceedings initiated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office,
the State Police detained 21 individuals, including public officials,
on suspicion of fraud in information technology procurements worth 1.5 million euros.
Pre-trial detention has been applied to public procurement specialist Ainārs Biders, former director of the State Digital Development Agency Jorens Liopa, and the owner and head of the Corporate Solutions group of companies Aigars Ceruss.
The criminal proceedings were initiated at the end of last year and are classified under provisions of the Criminal Law concerning large-scale fraud committed by an organised group and large-scale money laundering committed by an organised group.
According to information obtained during the investigation, an organised group of individuals entered into an unlawful secret agreement to predetermine winners in public procurement procedures in at least six projects financed by the European Regional Development Fund, with a total value of up to 1.5 million euros. There are suspicions that the contracts were unlawfully secured with the assistance of public officials, while the illegally obtained profits were distributed among those involved.
In a press release, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that the implementation of some of these projects may also pose potential national security risks, as they could affect elections and democratic processes.
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