Corrections could be added to the state funding for political parties. However, it needs to remain stable, said Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa in an interview to LTV programme Rīta panorāma.
When asked to comment how important it is to review state funding for political parties when austerity takes priority and whether or not it is possible to add major changes to the system, Siliņa said “we don’t want to return to a situation when only parties that have the most money are the only ones able to implement their policies”.
According to her, financing of political parties from the state budget is the right direction to ensure political parties do not depend on sponsors. Financing for political parties cannot be allowed to grow under conditions of austerity. Nevertheless, it needs to be highly stable.
Siliņa said it is worth looking into whether or not it is necessary to maintain state funding for parties that are not represented in power, but this is a difficult issue.
In September, Saeima deputies passed amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Organisations, freezing the financing provided to political parties by the state for one year.
In order to ensure the necessary funding for priorities, as well as ensure public administration expenses go down in 2025, one of the compensatory measures is maintaining funding for political organisations on the level of 2024, as mentioned in the annotation to amendments.
The passed amendments provide for calculating and allocating state budget financing for political parties in 2025 based on the minimal wage amount in 2024.