A sufficient number of signatures has been collected, allowing for the organisation of an extraordinary meeting of Riga City Council and a no-confidence vote for Riga’s mayor Mārtiņš Staķis and vice-mayor Vilnis Ķirsis, as confirmed by Riga City Council’s Harmony faction representative Anna Vladova.
She said signatures of 20 deputies have been collected. This includes signatures from all members of Harmony, Honour to Serve Riga and Latvian Russians Union factions in the city council.
Initially Harmony’s faction collected signatures to have Vilnis Ķirsis removed from his post due to the poor handling of the snow-clearing situation in Riga. Honour to Serve Riga initially supported this while also criticizing Riga’s mayor and CEO.
Latvian Russians Union then joined in and provided signatures. On 16 December LKS released a statement that it supports the initiative to call an extraordinary meeting of the city council, because deputies have received many complaints from residents as to how the city’s administration has organised snow-clearing efforts.