Latvian Saeima rejects opposition’s proposal to restart face-to-face work

On Thursday, 3 February, the Saeima rejected a proposal submitted by the opposition for deputies to once again work in the parliament in person.
During the 3 February online meeting opposition deputies Viktors Valainis, Karina Sprūde, Ralfs Nemiro and Edgars Tavars also mentioned the problems with the e-Saeima system, which sometimes cause connection interference and other problems, preventing deputies from taking part in meetings and debates.
Saeima speaker’s associate Dagmāra Beitnere-Le Galla admits there were problems, but some of them have been resolved.
Opposition deputy Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis invited the parliament and Saeima speaker Ināra Mūrniece to immediately restore normal face-to-face work meetings, as required by the Constitution. The politician asked if the parliament’s work done remotely is as good as work done in person and whether or not it is possible to seriously discuss publicly important topics, including living costs, energy crisis, slow economic growth and state debt.
Read also: Estonia to lift certificate requirement, if number of hospitalisations won’t surge
The deputy asked if it is now the case when some deputies participating in meetings remotely «sit back, half-paying attention», adding that it was not possible to start the Saeima meeting at 09:00 a.m. using e-Saeima platform because 75 Saeima deputies had signed up for participation. The politician asked if everyone else was still asleep.
Dombrovskis allowed that Latvia’s Saeima may be one of the few parliaments in the world that operates remotely. The politician stressed that hundreds of thousands of people in Latvia get up early in the morning to go to work and do their jobs normally. At the same time, some of the members of the Saeima continue receiving transport cost compensations.
The deputy also said Estonia’s Supreme Court prohibited the country’s parliament from working remotely. The reason is because of the importance of the institution.
Proposals in favour of holding meetings of the parliament normally were submitted by – Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis, Edgars Tavars, Evija Papule, Viktors Valainis, Didzis Šmits, Kaspars Ģirģens, Armands Krauze, Jānis Vucāns, Gundars Daudze, Ēriks Pucens and Romāns Naudiņš.
A week ago Saeima speaker Ināra Mūrniece mentioned that due to the fact that Covid-19 infections are on a rise, asking if now is the time to discuss the topic of restoring normal Saeima meetings.