On Thursday, the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, adopted urgent legislation declaring invalid from the date of its adoption a law passed just one week earlier granting Latvian citizenship to Indian national Divya Kannan Vishwanath.
The amendments were submitted by MPs from New Unity (JV), who proposed invalidating the law adopted on the 15th of October granting Vishwanath Latvian citizenship for special services to the country. Under the newly adopted legislation, the previous decision is annulled retroactively from the date it was originally adopted.
In the explanatory memorandum accompanying the proposal, New Unity stated that doubts had emerged about the completeness of the information on which parliament had based its decision to grant citizenship.
Before Thursday’s parliamentary vote, technical shortcomings were identified in the original draft during a meeting of the Saeima’s Legal Affairs Committee. As a result, MPs adopted an alternative bill prepared by the committee. The National Alliance had also submitted a similar proposal.
The issue of Vishwanath’s citizenship sparked disagreements within the governing coalition.
The National Alliance submitted its own bill seeking to reverse the citizenship decision. That proposal was referred to the Saeima’s Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion Committee, chaired by Gunārs Kūtris of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), whose party saw no grounds for changing the original decision.
Meanwhile, New Unity prepared a separate bill, which was advanced through the Legal Affairs Committee chaired by its MP Andrejs Judins.
During the parliamentary debate, Kūtris opposed reversing the citizenship decision, arguing that such a move was based on rumours and amounted to a “lynch trial”.
He said he wanted to conclude his work in parliament with a clear conscience.
Kūtris also pointed out that MPs now opposing the citizenship decision had previously had the opportunity to examine all the relevant documents.
“No one had any doubts about the authenticity of the documents,” he said.
New Unity MP Edmunds Jurēvics, however, argued that mistakes must be acknowledged and corrected.
“I personally apologise,” he said, urging fellow MPs to support the reversal of the citizenship decision.
Jurēvics emphasised that citizenship should not be regarded as a gift but as recognition of an individual’s achievements. He also noted that other scientists in Latvia had expressed concerns about the Indian national.
Before the parliamentary vote, coalition partner ZZS maintained that it saw no reason to change its position and continued to believe that the original decision to grant citizenship had been sufficiently justified.
ZZS parliamentary group leader Harijs Rokpelnis told LETA that the matter had been examined at three committee meetings, during which opinions from 11 state institutions were assessed.
According to Rokpelnis,
no new facts had been received indicating that Vishwanath failed to meet the requirements for citizenship.
As previously reported, the Saeima granted Latvian citizenship to Vishwanath on the 15th of October.
The explanatory memorandum accompanying the original legislation described her as an Indian national holding a doctorate in computer science, whose professional activities included information and communication technologies, data science, artificial intelligence and pharmaceutical research.
According to the document, her personal and professional activities have been connected with the Latvian Academy of Sciences (LZA) since 2019.
Since 2024, she has worked as head of the artificial intelligence laboratory at SIA Dr. Vishys.
According to information published by Firmas.lv, the microenterprise Dr. Vishys is owned by Kannan Vishwanath, who was granted Latvian citizenship by a parliamentary vote in autumn 2023 with the support of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.
He was also presented as a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and scientist.
However, the company has operated without turnover in recent years while accumulating losses exceeding 200,000 euros.
The explanatory memorandum prepared by the Saeima’s Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion Committee stated that Vishwanath’s activities contributed to the application of artificial intelligence in pharmaceuticals, the practical use of research findings and the development of innovative pharmaceutical products.
The leadership of the Latvian Academy of Sciences supported granting her citizenship, citing her contributions to science, entrepreneurship, innovation and the attraction of foreign investment.
The committee also stated that the responsible authorities had no information about circumstances that would prevent Vishwanath from obtaining Latvian citizenship under the Citizenship Law.
After examining the documents submitted by Vishwanath, her professional activities, her connections with Latvia and the support provided by the Latvian Academy of Sciences, the committee concluded that her work contributed to the development of innovative products and technologies, the practical application of research results, Latvia’s international visibility and its competitiveness.
Taking these factors into account, together with Vishwanath’s stated commitment to continue working for Latvia’s benefit, the committee prepared the original bill granting her citizenship.
However, following the decision, public concerns emerged regarding her educational qualifications, scientific publications and the justification for granting citizenship.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs called on parliament to address the doubts and, if necessary, reconsider the legislation.
Vishwanath herself previously rejected the allegations, maintaining that the documents submitted to the Saeima were authentic and had been verified.