At an extraordinary meeting of the Saeima on Wednesday, the 15th of March, the majority of deputies declined the proposal submitted by opposition deputies to dismiss Minister of Defence Ināra Mūrniece. During debates the majority of politicians, including some of the members of the opposition, admitted that Mūrniece is not at fault. Nevertheless, it was her duty to check the implemented and planned procurements related to National Armed Forces, considering the geopolitical situation.
Previously it was reported that a necessary number of signatures was collected to request her dismissal – 18 in total.
The initiator of this act – Latvian in First Place – noted that «the request is based on the scandalous procurement from the Ministry of Defence, which concluded during the minister’s term and which is currently under investigation».
During debates the minister stressed having done all she could to outline the problems related to the food procurement. However, she also said she «cannot take full responsibility for decisions made during a different minister’s term».
Mūrniece also stressed that neither she nor the ministry’s state secretary Jānis Garisons had signed the contract of this procurement. In her speech the minister also stressed that she and other deputies have many questions about this procurement, adding that inspections have commenced to investigate possible violations.
«This procurement was organised by the State Defence and Logistics Procurement Centre, not the ministry. The signing of the procurement and announcement of winners happened during a different minister’s term,» said Mūrniece, adding that officials who do not represent the procurement committee do not have any rights to influence the committee, which is independent and whose laws have liability before the law.
The Minister of Defence also said she hopes the inspections will yield the desired result – provide answers to many questions and why contender evaluation criteria were changed midway during the procurement, as well as why the cost of the procurement inflated from EUR 8 million to EUR 220 million.
Mūrniece also reminded that the Ministry of Defence has commenced its own inspection of the procurement. The institution also informed the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau and the prosecution office of the findings.
«The budget cannot afford it. On top of that, initially the procurement was for EUR 8 million,» said the minister, adding that there is room for an investigation from law enforcement institutions.
Opposition deputies believe that the fact that the procurement was initiated and carried out during the term of a different minister, it does not relieve the current minister of any responsibility.
The leader of the party Latvia in First Place Ainārs Šlesers stressed it is unacceptable for «the Minister of Defence to be out of the loop about contracts the price of which exceeds the initial offer».
«Honourable minister, what are we even talking about? What kind of country do we live in? Who was the one who made the decisions for contracts worth EUR 220 million or EUR 330 million, and how did these amounts even get this big?» said Šlesers.
Opposition deputy Aleksejs Rosļikovs said his party believes Mūrniece «should not take full responsibility for this procurement». However, «her political responsibility would be laying off the people involved in this specific procurement: the state secretary, manager of the procurement, lawyer, and everyone else working at the ministry».
«The coalition has no right to tell the opposition that no one knew about the size of the procurement blowing up from EUR 8 million to a quarter of a billion, because we all know what happens to ministers who want to spend more money than they have,» said Rosļikovs.
The opposition also voiced confusion how the commission that made the decision about the procurement was formed, adding that neither the minister nor the prime minister, or even the deputies in the Saeima, know any of those people or how they were entrusted with making the decision about the food procurement for National Armed Forces.
Armands Krauze reminded that, in accordance with the law, «the state secretary to the Ministry of Defence has a duty to stay informed of all requests from the commander of National Armed Forces, and he is the one who is in charge of the ministry». According to him, considering what is listed in the law, what happened is «also the responsibility of NBS Commander Leonīds Kalniņš».
During the extraordinary meeting of the Saeima, deputies also discussed the request submitted by Saeima factions of Latvian in First Place party and For Stability for Mūrniece about the army procurement in question. Member of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee Aleksandrs Kiršteins said the committee reviewed the request submitted by the opposition and answers provided by the Ministry of Defence. The Saeima rejected the opposition’s proposal – 40 deputies voted in favour and 49 voted against.
Opposition members also sharply criticised the attitude of Ministry of Defence state secretary Jānis Garisons towards the situation, adding that «it was his duty to monitor the situation to make sure the procurement is organised in accordance with the law and the army’s needs».
The opposition also voiced confusion why the Minister of Defence still has not dismissed Garisons from his post.
Members of the Combined List stressed that when she took office, Mūrniece started «fixing the last minister’s mistakes».
Česlavs Batņa stressed that the Ministry of Defence is not the only ministry that was managed by the union of parties Attīstībai/Par! and which required fixing of mistakes later on.
«The Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development, which was under A/P, halted Riga’s territorial development plan. We fixed this mistake. The Ministry of Defence was also under A/P for a time. Now Mūrniece has started fixing mistakes there. Even now in the coalition the Ministry of Education and Science is trying to do something. We’re fixing mistakes,» said Batņa.
Edgars Tavars said «what is spoken from the tribune about the situation in the Ministry of Defence is not great, but the Combined List believes the situation is not great in any ministry at the moment».
«The Combined List believes law enforcement institutions have to work and bring to justice the people responsible for the procurement and had committed violations,» stressed Tavars, adding that a closed meeting of the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee is planned this week. During this meeting it is planned to interview representatives of the prosecution office.
Tavars also said it is necessary to bring to justice all sides involved in the procurement «including representative of A/P who served in the ministry and elsewhere».
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