On Thursday, the 7th of September, Latvijas Radio and lsm.lv reported that the culture minister candidate from the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) could be the party’s Saeima faction deputy, lawyer and former chairman of the Constitutional Court Gunārs Kūtris.
It is sharply stressed that the possibility of the Ministry of Culture ending up in the hands of ZZS could mean the implementation of policy of Aivars Lembergs in regards to the work of both public media, possible merging and financing of LTV and Latvijas Radio.
The chairperson of Latvian Journalists Association, LTV programme Kas notiek Latvijā? Editor-in-chief Zane Mače voiced concerns about the possibility of ZZS taking over the Ministry of Culture. According to her, a ministry responsible for the media policy
should be monitored by justice and defence ministries,
which ZZS cannot take charge over [because of association with an internationally sanctioned figure].
What Lembergs said during the scandalous tapped “Rīdzenes negotiations” more than ten years ago is also worth mentioning here. Back then, during the 10th Saeima’s term, he and Ainārs Šlesers discussed the topic of media mergers and their ready team that “covers the whole field”, which can be interpreted as direct influencing of public media.
Both Mače and culture sector representatives say Kūtris has never worked in any areas supervised by the Ministry of Culture. Nevertheless, the decision is for prime minister candidate Evika Siliņa to make. The Saeima could vote on the next government next week.
Also read: OPINION | Government with ZZS in it would be “a return to Rīdzene Hotel”