The Prime Minister of Latvia, Evika Siliņa, has expressed dissatisfaction that people working in the country’s public administration are being “bullied from all sides.” She made the remarks on Thursday during an interview on the Rīta panorāma programme on Latvijas Televīzija.
Siliņa argued that the government she leads has implemented the largest changes to the number of employees in public administration since the government of Valdis Dombrovskis.
However, she said she is concerned that efforts to reduce bureaucracy are creating hostility toward public sector workers. According to the prime minister, employees in the public administration are increasingly criticised and their work is being belittled on social media.
Asked to clarify what the government means in its “restart plan” by a promise to reduce bureaucracy by 25%, Siliņa did not provide a precise explanation. Instead,
she stated that the reduction refers to several aspects, including the volume of regulations,
the time entrepreneurs spend dealing with administrative procedures, and the amount of financial resources used.
Siliņa also noted that the changes made to the government structure about a year ago were necessary and have produced results. At the same time, she acknowledged that further reforms will be required, even if they are not always popular with the public, but are needed for the country’s development.
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