Riga, Dec. 2, LETA. On Thursday, the Saeima submitted to the parliamentary Public Administration and Local Government Commission for consideration the amendments to the Law on the Structure of the Cabinet of Ministers (CM) submitted by President Egils Levits, which envisage the renewal of state ministers with clear political responsibility for cross-cutting areas.
There were 50 deputies in favor, 20 against and 14 abstentions.
Most of the coalition’s partners have expressed readiness to discuss Levit’s proposed amendments to the law on the reinstatement of state ministers, while the New Conservative Party (JRC) does not support the president’s initiative.
JKP leader, Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns has stated that the proposal for state ministers should not be supported, because it is not the most topical, but rather a “deceptive issue”. It is also the opposite of the “conservative” position in favor of a small and efficient public administration, the politician noted.
The Greens and Farmers’ Union (ZZS) has also objected to Levit’s proposals, saying that such an offer was expensive and ill-considered and would not solve the existing problems in the work of the executive.
During the debate, MP Viktor Valainis (ZZS) said that some time ago, the political force he represented had invited Levit to meet to discuss topical issues that the ZZS considered should be addressed and in which the party would see greater involvement of the President. However, according to Valainis, ZZS has received a “rather strange position of the president”, in which he has said that he “ignores the opposition of the Saeima”, and in his opinion, it is not necessary to discuss issues important to the state with the opposition.
At the same time, commenting on the President’s offer, Valainis said that Levit did not have a clear state priority. According to him, the creation of the post of state minister will only increase the “political market” in the 14th Saeima elections. The ZZS deputy pointed out that the President was going in the wrong direction, saying that the country should move towards a modern, small and compact public administration, but offered to increase public administration, with still duplicating functions.
In his turn, Krišjānis Feldmans, a member of the JKP board and a deputy of the Saeima, called for a vote to submit the draft law to the commission “out of respect for the President”. At the same time, he agreed that the proposal was not coming on time, and the JPP believes that the smaller the public administration, the better. However, in his opinion, the bill should be submitted to the commission for evaluation, in order to give Levit an opportunity to comment on his proposal and colleagues to discuss it.
Feldmans added that he was skeptical about conceptual support for the idea.
As Justine Deičmane, Head of the Media Center of the Office of the President, informed LETA, Levits offers to restore the Institute of State Ministers, as he believes that one of the problems of governance in Latvia is the state’s inability to politically manage and effectively manage cross-sectoral policies.
“I have encouraged the Cabinet of Ministers structure law to provide that the Cabinet of Ministers may appoint one or more state ministers for a term or a fixed term on the proposal of the Prime Minister. The appointment of state ministers should be written in a letter to the Saeima.
The President draws attention to the fact that “in vertical governance, everyone sees the issue from the perspective of their industry, but is usually not able to effectively assess the situation as a whole and manage it properly. This requires horizontal policies and cross-sectoral cooperation.”
In order to modernize public administration and improve the implementation of horizontal policies, the President proposes that the Cabinet of Ministers Law provide for the right of the Cabinet of Ministers to appoint politically responsible officials – state ministers – if necessary. Levits points out that the possibility of appointing state ministers would give more flexibility in structuring the government and defining areas of political responsibility.
“Child and family policy and digital policy are just some of the areas where there is a lack of such cross-sectoral cooperation and political responsibility for policy-making and implementation in the field. “The President states in a letter.
Levits calls on the Saeima to seriously consider and support this proposal so that it can enter into force after the 14th Saeima meeting and provide an opportunity to highlight not only vertical policy areas, as has been the case so far, but also additional horizontal policy areas in the formation of a new Cabinet after the Saeima elections. , which have hitherto often lacked good governance and the political will to implement it, neglecting these often important issues for society as a whole “.
Before the amendments come into force, the Saeima must vote on them in three readings.
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