Deputies of Rezekne City Council that are on official sick leave do not attend meetings but still find it acceptable to attend public events, reports the opposition of Rezekne municipality. Politologist Filips Rajevskis, meanwhile, believes it is in the interests of the recently dismissed Chairman of Rezekne City Council Aleksandra Bartaševiča to organise snap elections as soon as possible.
Opposition member Ināra Groce claims that Rezekne City Council deputy Aleksejs Grehovs from Bartaševičs’ ruling party Kopā Latvijai [Together for Latvia] has recently taken part in some sports event. She also claims that Aleksandrs Bartaševičs took part in a special service in church on Saturday, the 18th of November.
“People sent us photos that prove it. I think now it is possible to issue sick leave certificates for a minimum of seven days, and they cannot be issued faster,” said Rezekne City Council deputy, saying that it is very wrong for members of the ruling party to come to public events if they previously took out a sick leave certificate.
Opposition deputy Juris Guntis Vjakse says that according to his information, city council deputies that are officially on sick leave remain rather active outside city council meetings. According to him, it would be worth for some supervisory institution to step in to determine whether the sick leave certificates were issued justifiably. It is clear, he said, that it is in the interest of the ruling party to have snap elections organised as soon as possible.
As for Bartaševičs’ party’s chances in snap elections, Vjakse said Daugavpils and Rezekne have a
polarised society that vote based on language.
“At one point people will believe the municipality is the victim” and that there is political score-settling in the works. At the same time, some residents will definitely not vote for Bartaševičs and his party ever again.
As previously reported, on the 16th of November it was announced at a meeting of Rezekne City Council that four members of Kopā Latvijai political party – Igors Sergejevs, Vladimirs Bogdanovs, as well as Bartaševičs and Grehovs – announced having sick leave certificates and did not participate in the meeting.
Groce said that members of Kopā Latvijai initially wanted the entire Rezekne City Council to be dissolved, which is something the party officially announced on the 10th of November. Now “they understand this plan could fail”, and they don’t know what they should do later.
It’s difficult for Bartaševičs to move on after 14 years in a leadership position and become a regular city council deputy again.
Groce says Bartaševičs’ party will have many competitors in the next elections: his previous party Harmony, Latvia in First Place and Stability. This means the next city council could be more fractured. Considering all this, the next head of the city council will need to have serious diplomatic skills, says Groce.
As it is known, Rezekne City Council meetings of 2nd, 10th and 16th of November failed because of lack of quorum. In accordance with the Law on Local Governments, city council meetings are considered fulfilled if more than half of deputies participate in it. The head of the city council makes sure there is quorum before every vote. If there is no quorum, the chairman is to close the meeting.
If not enough deputies show up for a repeated meeting, the chairman is required to inform the Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development within three days of a repeated meeting.
The Saeima has the authority to dissolve a city council if its deemed unable to make decisions or if the city council fails to secure a quorum for three consecutive meetings.
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