One of the requesters, Saeima member Edvards Smiltēns (AS), emphasized during the meeting of the Requests Commission that the representatives of the executive branch – Director of the State Chancellery Jānis Citskovskis and Prime Minister Evika Siliņa – have not provided answers to several questions of the request, namely about the number of passengers on each flight, who are there have been passengers, what has been the economic justification, what are the exact destinations, etc. “The questions were clear, there were no answers,” Smiltēns described the situation.
There was also no answer to the question: were regular flights to the countries targeted by Kariņš unavailable? The destinations of the special flights were in Belgium, Slovenia, Germany, France, Portugal, Great Britain, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Poland and Moldova. Are there no scheduled flights to these countries from Riga airport? Or was arrival in these countries hampered by complicated logistics when making flight connections?
The passengers on these private jets are also a mystery. “Taking into account the types of foreign official and working visits of the Prime Minister, the interests of the state, as well as in some cases the protocol and logistical aspects of the visit, the traditions of the host country, the delegation included representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as representatives of the State Security Service,” says In Tsitskovsky’s letter. What touches the most is the “traditions of the host country”: if the prime minister flies with his entourage, plebeian using a regular flight, and arrives at a specific airport, for example in Portugal, without a glass of port wine in his hand, then is he sent back to Latvia?
The parliamentary secretary of Evikas Siliņas, Jānis Patmalnieks (JV), stated that the officials of many countries, it turns out, use special flights and that similar debates on these issues have already taken place in Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland. And in Estonia it was already debated in 2016. Citskovskis especially emphasized that the Prime Minister as an official has a very intensive work regime both in domestic and foreign politics. Often, only a couple of days before the visit, it is clarified that it will take place, and the destination – alas! – does not always coincide with scheduled flights.
But in order to get rid of the intrusive opposition, Patmalnieks managed to say that such a request is not supportable, as it is addressed to Prime Minister Silina, who is not covered by the flights mentioned in the request. Well, Kariņa’s spending does not apply to this government, so keep calm.
Result: eight members of the commission were against the request to the Prime Minister Evikas Siliņa regarding the expenses of the former Prime Minister Kariņš’s special flights. They were: Raimonds Čudars (JV, head of the commission), Augusts Brigmanis (ZZS), Gundars Daudze (ZZS), Ingrīda Circene (JV), Inese Kalniņa (JV), Andris Shuvajevs (PRO), Jānis Reirs (JV), Jānis Patmalnieks (JV).
It is not difficult to see that the friendly group of the coalition sang a coherent song about the fact that, firstly, the opposition does not need to know anything, and secondly, we will spend as much as we want and it will be none of your business. That is why the question of Linda Liepiņa (LPV) was also heard in the wilderness: why are the MPs not provided with the requested answers at a time when questions about the lack of money in various sectors are so urgent?
Political scientist Filip Rajevsky: “I just listened to an American broadcast. Jared Kushner, who was once Trump’s Middle East adviser, spoke. He talked about the leaders of Hamas who are billionaires, giving a very good analogy. There was once a meeting to which representatives of the State of Israel arrived using a normal commercial flight. The King of Jordan also arrived on a regular commercial flight. And then the representatives of “Hamas” arrived in private planes with the royal entourage… This is a sign of poverty. When public funds are spent on private jets, it is a sign of a third world country. No civilized country will allow itself to do that.”
Rajevsky admits that the president of the United States or China can afford to fly on a private plane, because they are world powers – with economies of billions and trillions. “Then, when we are talking about a small, democratic European country, we can begin to understand the reasons why we are where we are. The biggest pygmy of a small country travels by private plane! It is a slap in the face of taxpayers. And now who else will talk about a European country?” Rajevsky gets angry, probably thinking: let the real pygmies forgive me. Because it is meant for pygmies of the spirit…
The most subtle thing in this story is that neither the former prime minister, nor the current prime minister, nor the grand coalition feel guilty that tax payers’ money is often squandered, but the gossipers don’t even think to explain anything, making do with blah-blah letters. What is it? Contempt or insolence? Or both together?
PS “Combined list” has turned to the State Control, asking them to evaluate the reasonableness of the costs of Kariņš’s VIP flights. “Using expensive and exclusive services for personal convenience and not wanting to inform the public about it only shows arrogance and arrogance. It seems that some have started to consider the budget funds as their own,” explains Edvards Smiltēns.
2023-11-16 03:15:15
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