The 13th Saeima will not be able to pass the law regarding the renaming of streets in Latvia that carry names associated with the Communist regime and Russia in general, said the chairman of Saeima’s Education, Culture and Science Committee Arvils Ašeradens on 12 October.
There is one more meeting left for the 13th Saeima. During this meeting it will not be possible to pass the law urgently in both readings. The reason is because more discussions are needed for various aspects of the law, added Ašeradens.
27 October will be the last and festive meeting of the 13th Saeima. There are no plans to discuss legislation during this meeting, said the politician.
This is why the law intended to rename streets considered Communist and Russification heritage is unlikely to be passed by the 13th Saeima.
The law is intended to prohibit the use of names that promote Communism, totalitarian regime, USSR, ideology or events related to the Soviet Union or its people. It is also planned to prohibit names created as part of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party ideology or propaganda, Russification included.
Saeima’s Legal Affairs Office representative Lilita Vilsone turned committee members’ attention towards the criteria for streets to be renamed.
These criteria must be unambiguous so that municipalities have no room for interpretation when making decisions on renaming streets, said the representative.
The Public Memory Centre agreed with what she said. Historian Didzis Šēnbergs mentioned that municipal workers have different education levels and understanding of historical events.
Ašeradens proposed that members of the committee support the legislative draft before the first reading so that the 14th Saeima can pass it immediately. However, Vilsone mentioned this process requires feedback from the Ministry of Finance, considering that the law will have a financial impact on the state budget. For whatever reason the ministry’s feedback never reached the committee, which is why the review of the legislative draft was postponed.
As noted in the annotation to the legislative draft, the objective is preventing threats to Latvia’s values, condemn the Communist regime and Soviet occupation, the crimes committed by this regime and its policy, Russification included. According to authors of this law, it is also intended to restore historic justice – prevent incorrect, inaccurate and subjective interpretation of events and honour the success of Latvian nation in opposing occupational powers.
The legislative draft was submitted by members of the Conservative Party Krišjānis Feldmans, Evita Zālīte-Grosa, Ainars Bašķis, Jānis Butāns and Ieva Akuratere.