TV3 News continues the series of stories “Keys of Riga”, presenting in more detail those political forces and lists that are applying for a seat in the Riga City Council in the upcoming elections at the end of August. This time the real long-term residents of Latvian politics are on the agenda – the National Union, in which the parties “All for Latvia” and “For Fatherland and Freedom / LNNK” merged several years ago.
“All of Latvia” was a youth organization in the early 2000s, while the origins of the homeland can be traced back to the late 1980s. In these elections, the nationalists run together with the Association of Latvian Regions.
The National Union plays a significant role in Riga’s politics. Before the era of Nila Ushakov (S) began in the capital, it was the nationalists who were the last hosts of the town hall. This was before merging with “All Latvia”. Mayor Jānis Birks from “For Fatherland and Freedom / LNNK”.
It is interesting that at that time Einārs Cilinski, the current mayoral candidate of the National Union and the Association of Latvian Regions, was also elected from the relevant list. Remembering that time, he now explains that the coalition was very divided and in competition with each other. The homeland was nowhere near as big a saying as “Harmony” in the next period.
“I think that Jānis Birks himself was definitely an honest person, but there was corruption in the structure of the council, which was revealed at least in part. Then I headed the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Riga City Council for about a year, ”says Cilinskis.
Corruption scandals were loud. Within a month and a half, KNAB detained four current and former municipal officials. At the end of the term, the patriots, the mayor’s party, did not even enter the next term.
“Apparently, these cases of corruption cast a shadow over the chairman of the council, although in fact they took place when he was not yet the chairman of the council.” Further, Cilinskis left “For Fatherland and Freedom / LNNK” and joined the party “For All Latvia”, which entered the parliament together with the same patriots in the 2010 Saeima elections. Later, the two political forces merged into one party. For the past 15 years, once only, nationalists have not sat at the government table. In the Cabinet of Ministers of Laimdota Straujuma, Cilinskis was the Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, but the Prime Minister demanded his resignation after participating in the March 16 march.
For many years, the nationalists have been accused of close ties to the insolvency cunfti, and the currently tried administrator, Aigars Lūsis, has been the party’s general secretary and board member.
Asked if it was a speech of the poor, or if there was something, Cilinskis answers: “In any case, it is difficult for me to assess. Nothing happened in my presence, nor have I met them in particular. Of course, Mr. Lūša was an official for a while, then I met, but I wasn’t there. My feeling is that everything is greatly exaggerated there. ”
The last scandal in the Riga City Council for the nationalists was the joining of Baiba Broka, the mayor of Riga, to the ideological opponents of “Harmony” and “Honor to Serve Riga”. Brok’s friendship with Ushakov’s family had been tantamounted by political rivals for years, but they pushed Brok in the capital twice. Now Cilinskis admits that it was a mistake: “It is completely visible to everyone. The question is to what extent one could have known this error in advance. I think you could have known that in part. “
In the upcoming elections at the end of August, the nationalists will start together with the Latvian Association of Regions, which has a rather modest history and which unites several forces in the regions. Among the leaders of the list are the former politician of “Vienotības” Edvards Smiltēns, the head of the Association of Young Scientists Ieva Siliņa, also a lawyer Ieva Brante and the chairman of the Riga branch of the nationalities Edvards Ratnieks.
Cilinski is not confused that in the previous Riga City Council elections, the Association of Latvian Regions ran together with the liberal “Latvia’s Development”, now with the Conservatives. Municipalities need to address practical issues.
“The Association of Latvian Regions, I think it has changed. He now defines himself as a conservative force. ” Cilinskis highlighted the reduction of kindergarten queues from the voters of the joint program – this will be a special priority, for which funding could be directed at the expense of other areas as well. Much of the program also talks about Lielrīga, when in cooperation with the surrounding local governments it must become the engine of Latvia’s development.
“In particular, traffic, but also to some extent educational infrastructure and other issues need to be seen in context. So far, this has not happened enough, ”points out Cilinskis.
Nationals and the Association of Regions do not plan to review discounts on public transport. Large corporations will not privatize. In order to ensure a greener capital, the position of the chief gardener of Riga is renewed.
Regarding the so-called red lines, Cilniskis strongly emphasizes that he will not enter into a coalition with the previous owners of Riga – neither with “Saskaņu” or its former representatives, nor “Honor to serve Riga”.
The support of the National Association and the Association of Regions is very stable. The latest data among those who have already made their choice is at 12%, but in general this dynamics is also largely within the statistical error. It should be noted that also at the level of the Saeima, there are nationalities with especially large fluctuations. The list leader Einārs Cilinskis has been assessed as the fourth most recognizable candidate for the position of the mayor of Riga.
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