Ultimatum, blackmail, succumbing to pressure, political revenge, bizarre and comical action – this week in the ruling coalition was full of reproaches. Prime Minister Kariņš blamed the National Union (NA) for the resignation of the Minister of the Interior, Maria Golubeva (“Development / For”). Kariņš himself, in turn, was later accused by both Golubeva – of succumbing to pressure and “nationalists” – of punishing his Minister of Economy, Jānis Vitenbergs, as a punishment for the party.
Last week’s events at the Victory Park monument – laying flowers and gathering at it for two days in a row – and the initially gentle police action – had angered the NA that it had publicly announced that Golubeva would lose his post as interior minister, otherwise the party’s ministers would leave the government. This happened while Karin was visiting Canada.
Upon his return, the prime minister announced that although he had demanded Golubeva’s resignation himself, the NA deserved punishment for such a public ultimatum – the dismissal of a minister. The party itself did not recall anyone, so Kariņš chose the Minister of Economy.
Golubeva, who herself refused to resign until the last moment, has now returned to the Saeima. She believes that she could have continued her work as a minister, as the State Police had already drawn conclusions, as evidenced by the unauthorized gathering in the Town Hall Square on Friday.
However, the former minister admits mistakes in his communication on May 10, when he was on a business trip to Spain, but the Victory Park also expressed support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Communication is important, of course, and of course it can’t be run on its own. I had the impression that I had to expect all the reports from the police on how they were going there and how they were dealing with those people on May 10, when and it turns out that maybe it was much faster for every step of the police, including the fact that I have told the police chief that I support the idea of sending more police there now and try to control what is there as soon as possible. happens – probably every step had to be communicated, because it turns out that this was exactly what society lacked.
At the time, it seemed to me that I would better wait for all the facts and then continue to communicate, but obviously it was wrong, “Golubeva understood.
However, Golubeva still believes that the State Police and the State Security Service could not have predicted that the flowers brought by the celebrants of the so-called “Victory Day” on the morning of May 10 would be harvested by a tractor of Riga City Council structures. In its turn, the statement of the State Security Service that the individual laying of flowers at the monuments glorifying the occupation of Latvia should also be considered more precisely, according to the former Minister of the Interior. “I agree that the release should have made it clearer what is forbidden by law. Because I can conceptually agree that putting flowers at an occupation monument is disrespectful, but until the law says it is forbidden to do so on this day, a police officer cannot also to ban someone from doing so, “she said.
Although some of the leaders of “Attīstība / Par” admitted that the attack on Golubeva could be related to her gender or nationality, Jānis Iesalnieks, a member of the NAE Board and a member of the Saeima, denied this. “I think this is a completely absurd statement, because although the National Union has promoted women as its ministers, I also know that in the history of TB / LNNK there was a minister who is not of Latvian nationality, so in my opinion, “It is a completely fictional and absurd argument to somehow obscure the failures of Maria Golubeva ‘s work as Minister of the Interior,” said Iesalnieks.
He admitted that although it was worthwhile to make a statement about Golubev to the party a week ago, the result was not entirely good, because the dismissal of the Minister of Economy Wittenberg was an unreasonable step in response.
Daniel Pavluts, the head of the “For!” Movement, represented by Golubeva, announced this week that no one in the coalition has a secret that Vitenberg has been assessed as a weak minister. “I think that if the minister with the lowest rating as a member of the government says that I have not been told anything like that to me … And also, I think if we evaluated Mr. Pavluta’s work as a minister, I would have something here I would like to say, but I will simply not do it.
Although the NA and several business organizations publicly called on Kariņš not to dismiss Vitenberg, the party nominated his successor – the former parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Economics, the Member of the Saeima Ilze Indriksoni (NA). She promises to continue the dialogue with NGOs: “I think it is worrying that, in a situation where the economy and security in the country are so important, there is, of course, a change of minister. There are always risks, but I will certainly try to provide them. confidence that these negotiations will take place and that cooperation will continue, and that nothing significant will change in this respect. ” Regarding the forthcoming cooperation in the government, the candidate for the Minister of Economics predicts that the decisions will be more cautious and the initiatives of the partners will be evaluated more carefully.
Meanwhile, “For Development / For!” The election of the new Minister of the Interior was not in a hurry this week – a special working group was looking for it, and the candidates were considered not only from the Movement “For!”, but also from the “Latvian Development” and even outside the association. “For Development / About!” The leader of the Saeima faction Juris Pūce expressed hope that in the future the coalition of ministers will no longer have to experience such resignations, which has been expressed to the Prime Minister and other partners: “Of course, if a nor does it prevent all other coalition partners from using such a method, and that we think it would be very detrimental to the coalition’s work. , where blackmail is becoming a normal part of our coalition. So far it has not been. “
Prime Minister Kariņš, whose wish to approve the new ministers has not been fulfilled this week, now hopes that it will be possible to do so next Thursday. Although the bitterness in the coalition remains, the head of government urges the coalition partners not to give in to the proximity of the election, which could lead to recklessness: each other on the head.I think this is the wrong tactic.The best we can show the public is that we are able to interact with others.
Defeat? Any fool can defeat. But to cooperate is an art! “
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