Ilona Bērziņa, BNN
No other government had landed in a puddle as quickly as this one. Failure to implement the goals listed in the declaration project started shortly before the government started working. “In the declaration project we promised to have the fence on the border with Belarus and Russia to be completed by the end of 2023. Forget about it! It will be the end of 2024.”
Did the government promise healthcare additional funding? There are indications that suggest this promise will not be completed in full. Did Latvia get a narrower coalition instead of an expanded one? So what? Who is even interested in what society things?
When the forming government was being composed, the suggested government declaration mentioned a specific promise – the complete the installation of the fence on the border with Belarus and Russia by the end of 2023. Now this sole specific promise has undergone a metamorphose – according to the government declaration published on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers, the fence is planned to be completed by the end of 2024.
Poland built theirs in six months, we – in six years
Of course, some might say about the fence’s completion terms that it was a human clerical error, which was not noticed by the heads of New Unity as they rushed to compose the new government at breakneck speed. This fence was mentioned during the approval of Siliņa’s government in the Saeima many times during debates, and it was mentioned in a positive light.
“The only question related to actual work, not values, was about the construction of the fence along the eastern border by the end of the year. Unity, which has been in charge of this country for six years, promises the fence will be built. We will see,” said Saeima deputy Ainārs Šlesers.
“[…] I sincerely wish, without irony, for this process to be finally over, that we will finally have the eastern border strengthened, that we will really have that fence on the border with Belarus and Russia, because it is really existentially important for our security. […] Especially in Latgale, the border regions, which have been the targets of the hybrid war waged by Russia and Belarus lately,” said Saeima deputy Edvīns Šņore.
It is worth mentioning what Evika Siliņa said about security – domestic and external – as one of the new government’s priorities. Considering the existing geopolitical situation, a fence on the border is needed. But then why in the hell have we been wasting time with its construction since 2018?
One small example. The length of the Latvian-Belarusian border is 172.912 km. Poland managed to establish a 5.5 m tall steel fence along an 180 km border in half a year.
Why can’t we do the same?
I hope the human clerical error was only in the government declaration project published on the Cabinet of Ministers website, not the final document. Otherwise we will have to wait for a banquet in honour of the tenth anniversary of the start of construction.
Meņģelsone’s recruitment or a stain on New Unity’s otherwise fine uniform
Another shocking moment was the revelation from the now ex-Minister of Health Līga Meņģelsone on the government approval day. At the start of the week she intended to expand the ranks of New Unity – because it was one of the party’s conditions to guarantee the medical sector the promised financing. However, she retracted her application on Friday. She said that it became known that the promised funding increase will not happen.
Is it just me or does something like that (not talking about Meņģelsone) seems more akin to a mad dog’s nightmare rather than a normal political process? It is worth mentioning what Viļis Krištopans said during debates:
“If you, Unity, promise us to implement within a month’s time all of the proposals you brought to the parliamentary investigative committee [regarding the consequences of the capital repairs of the financial sector], all of the proposals submitted by Harijs Rokpelnis, if you liquidate the Financial Investigation Service as an unnecessary, parasite structure, if you reduce the taxes and make them the lowest in the Baltic States, I would be prepared to write my own application to join Unity!”
Should businessmen expect support or slogans?
Prime Minister Siliņa is proud that her government’s declaration and its 40 points is much, much shorter than the declaration of her predecessor Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš with his 328 points. Those are only priorities, nothing else. Perhaps what Aiva Vīksna said from the Saeima tribune was true – what about the idea about a better tax regime for small and emerging businesses?
Does Latvia even need small and medium-sized businesses, which account for 98% of Latvian businesses, which accounts for 70% of added value and which employs nearly 80% of employed people in Latvia? How to resolve the financial availability problem for business development?
Citing Aiva Vīksna: “[…] the government does not create anything, they only distribute taxpayers’ earned money, which is something the new government’s creators have forgotten about in their egocentric rhetoric. The situation in Latvia’s economy is not exactly brilliant. I would go as far as saying its is dramatic. Processing industry – the engine behind Latvia’s economy – stands idle.
Exports are idle, drops are observed in nearly all sectors.
Was there even a word spared in its favour in the endless discussions about government objectives? There is no need – let them handle it on their own. What’s important is that everything is fine in slogans.”
Perhaps the truth of the matter lies in Artūrs Butāns’ words that “now that the National Alliance and the Combined List have been pushed aside and out of the government, the government can now hand over Latvian State Forests, Latvenergo, Rīgas ūdens and other state and municipal companies to private owners. Yes, these companies, not Latvian Lotto or some other companies. The companies that hold the country’s resources, the companies that are objects of national interest.”
One might ask why I’m so focused on the government declaration now that the government has been approved, ministries divided among coalition members, and the Progressive Party and Union of Greens and Farmers have already drunk their champagne. But the government declaration is the document on the basis of which this entire narrow coalition will roll up its sleeves and fight for a “sustainable country, improving the quality of family life, balancing the dimensions of social, economic and environmental policies.”
The government with “one small person behind it”
If this document is nothing, then, I fear, that the implementation of the goals listed in it is nothing as well. It is clear to all that it is the duty of the opposition to criticise the position all the time, but when it comes to the government declaration, the opposition have got many things right.
Citing Edgars Tavars: “Yes, a small declaration, small goals and government with a small man behind it. This, my colleagues, was the price paid. This is the agreement New Unity is now paying for to fulfil the promise given to [ex-Mayor of Ventspils Aivars] Lembergs’ Union of Greens and Farmers and the Progressive Party.”
In regards to the government that has “one small person behind it”, it is worth mentioning Andris Kulbergs’ reminder – that all companies, be they large or small, must fill out an ironclad questionnaire, that none of the cooperation partners of those companies, related private or legal persons, regardless of where the beneficial owner is, are subject to national sanctions of the Republic of Latvia and international sanctions.
Old contracts are not allowed to be continued with such persons. It is also not allowed to sign any new contracts with them. This is why the close ties between Aivars Lembergs and ZZS are so toxic.
As Kulbergs said: “Political processes are closely related to economic activity, which is something Aivars Lembergs, as chairman of For Latvia and Ventspils political party, can and will be able to influence using the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Agriculture [both are now managed by the Union of Greens and Farmers], to say nothing about the seat of the Saeima speaker. He will be able to influence the budget and use of European funding, which is exactly what is mentioned in Section 11.2 of the Law on International Sanctions and National Sanctions of the Republic of Latvia, especially in regards to European funds.”
This is no child game any more.
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