Apr 11
AleksEconomy, Society, The Dombrovskis government
A sign in Russian reads: "Stop the genocide"
RIGA – Words are a powerful tool. They paint a picture. They persuade. They dissuade. They arose people to war. They declare peace.
They matter in a public discourse. They set the public mood and reveal the mindset of its leaders, who rely on words to persuade the armies of Joe Six-packs.
Sloppy word usage is destructive.
Mayor of the seaside town of Ventspils, Aivars Lembergs – described by a colleague as a miniature Silvio Berlusconi – compared the international bailout to the Auschwitz concentration camp, on the eve of the Auschwitz liberation anniversary this January.
“If you’re placed into the Auschwitz concentration camp against your will and you survive, then it makes sense to praise you for your perseverance and heroism. But if you yourself go to Auschwitz and sign up to live there, how can one praise you? One can only wonder about you, how stupid you really are. Latvian political leaders have led Latvia into Auschwitz and voluntarily forced the people to live there,” Lembergs said.
Last week, Lembergs urged to extend the time this country spends in Auschwitz.
Auschwitz is not the only overpowering metaphor used in the public discourse. Of all the ways to describe the economic crisis, the populists’ favorite word is genocide.
On a recent cold sunny spring day, several hundred people gathered outside the presidential castle to protest. The crowd – surrounded by banners from opportunistic marginals like globaisti.lv – had a slew of demands. Their main demand was to “stop genocide of the people of Latvia.”
“Everything is done to destroy the Latvian state. Why are we all working now? My children and my grandchildren would have to work to pay back to the International Monetary Fund?” said one Latvian protestor to TV-3 journalists.
The public perception – cynical it may be – is that the government is intentionally and systematically killing off its own people by raising taxes, hiking electricity rates, raising retirement age. It fits into the general narrative of the Latvian suffering in the 20th century, a cornerstone of the modern Latvian ethnic identity. Moscow and Berlin both raped these people, pillaged their homes, deported and killed their men, women and children. It is bound to leave scars on the psyche. It is the worst thing they can think of when they describe their dire conditions.
Ironically, the frequent use of the word “genocide” makes the actual genocide seem less terrible. With more days of mourning than of celebration on the country’s political calendar, the word “genocide” has devalued so much that today it means very little. In the future, perhaps, the word could be used to describe a rainbow of feelings – from sadness to extreme joy. Teenagers could embrace the word to use it to describe something they like. As in “Dude, that’s genocide.” Ok, Latvian teens don’t use the word “dude.” But nevertheless, no longer it’s a reference to the Holocaust, or even to the deportations of 1941 and 1949. It’s now a reference to the current government policies as if reincarnated Hitler’s henchmen run the government. I struggle to picture the finance minister Andris Vilks as Goebbels.
Some of the public grievances are legitimate. The times are tough and socially unfair. The highest-earning employee of the central bank had claimed 44,000 lats (US$88,000) in child benefits for his family last year as he continued to earn. It turned out to be perfectly legal. At the same time, a family in Riga lives on a disability and Ls 8 ($16) child benefit unable to find work in this crisis. Policy makers are more concerned with populist slogans than with social justice. It’s frustrating. But it’s hardly genocide.
Nov 09
AleksNational Minorities, Politics, The Dombrovskis government
RIGA – The parliament today is likely to allow Foreign Minister Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis to keep his job. In the first week since his appointment, Kristovskis has come under fire after his emails exchange revealed his agreeing with xenophobic statements (some links are in Latvian) of a Latvian-American doctor, one of the party sponsors.
The incident illustrates the Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis’s Unity bloc as a disunited eclectic political force.
Latvia's Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis
It also suggests Kristovskis’ own seeming inability to lead the party bloc. His mishandling of a petty mini-scandal resembles the
Nasing Spešl scandal of the former finance minister Atis Slakteris, who went on to become a national joke. Insignificant in and of itself, the scandal marked the beginning of the end for the People’s Party, which swept the general elections four years ago. Kristovskis’ mishandling of the email revelation could also backfire and plummet the Unity popularity among the moderate voices, making it easier for the opposition to wreck havoc with the Unity agenda including a call for snap elections.
It also worth noting that the incident has coincided with the former member of the parliament Vaira Paegle‘s decision to quit politics. The former head of the NATO parliamentary committee, Paegle said she has been disappointed with the Latvia’s lie-infested political culture still in existence 20 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. She said the Unity party bloc reminded her of the People’s Party before its collapse. Even though she was offered a seat in the parliament, she declined. She quit the Civic Union. She decided to move back to the US to be with her family.
The Kristovskis scandal also shows the Unity’s seeming inability to manage public relations crises. Reasonable explanation has deteriorated to the point that the single enemy is to blame for all Latvia’s sins. Member of the European Parliament Sandra Kalniete’s hysterical press release over the weekend hinted between the lines that pro-Moscow forces and its allies in the parliament were to blame for the smear campaign – according to Kalniete it is one of 10 upcoming revelations – against the Unity and the Civic Union. It is as if Moscow was to blame for all Latvia’s ills, including the deepest economic recession in the world. The press release seem to suggest that one cannot assume that the Kristovskis’ email politesse in an attempt to raise money from abroad shifted his own political views closer to the diaspora Latvians, who wish to see Latvia Russian-free by any means possible.
It doesn’t help though that the Kristovskis’ own views remain a mystery. Perhaps, his views are conducive to the audience he is addressing. In most of Kristovskis’ public statements, it was impossible to learn what his views on integration and the Russian minority actually were. What was clear though that he attacked journalists for reporting it and his own fellow party members for leaking the correspondence.
Nov 05
AleksThe Dombrovskis government
RIGA – Mayo Clinic in the United States said Thursday it would launch an investigation into one of its employees after its Facebook page has been flooded with calls to fire Aivars Slucis, one of its employees, who espoused xenophobic views in a year-old email to Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis, Latvia’s future foreign minister.
“We are investigating the Dr. Slucis matter,” the clinic said. ”This statement in no way reflects the views of Mayo Clinic.”
The clinic’s Facebook page received several comments mostly from people with the Russian last names, calling on an investigation, suspension, or firing of Dr. Slucis.
“Hello, most famous racist clinic in te[sic] wold. How are you? Would you be so kind to answer me, what is the whole list of nations that are not welcome in your clinic? Jews? Gipsies? Slavic nations? You are so brilliant! Uncle Adolf would be proud of you,” reads one post.
The incident underscores that it is impossible to promote racism to an audience that would share that view while maintaining an image of a diverse open-minded person to another audience in the age of the internet. It also illustrates the provincialism of Latvia’s new foreign minister.
Kristovskis could have nipped the incident in the bud if he had called for a press conference and explained his own views on diversity. He could have explained that ethnic discrimination on any level is unacceptable in a country that is a member of the European Union and NATO. He could have said that he believes that there shouldn’t be a discrimination in Latvia based on one’s ethnicity. He could have come out as a bigger man in this debate, leaving no doubt regarding his own views on Slucis’ xenophobic comments.
Instead, he chose to chide the media for reporting it. He chose to demand that he be apologized and that the media find the guilty person who leaked the e-mail in the first place. He chose to play the blame game instead of distancing himself from the whole incident and the extremist views of the American-Latvian doctor.
Nov 04
AleksHistory, National Minorities, Parliament, Politics, The Dombrovskis government
Count Monte Kristo, Latvia's new foreign minister
RIGA – A presumably old foreign Latvian wished I had never been born.
“Too bad his mother did not abort him, nor Arajs plant him as a fertilizer for weeds,” said the anonymous poster, who goes under the name of Mr. L. L. on a website for the Latvian diaspora. The site’s admin deleted this portion of the post, which I didn’t really find offensive. I prefer not to take idiots seriously.
So unlike our new foreign minister, the leader of the Unity bloc, Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis. In search of glory and public appeasement he is willing to publicly communicate even with the radical wing of his own party. Last October, he had received a letter from a Latvian American doctor, complaining about the presence of many Russian-speakers in his native Latvia.
“Latvia is the only country in the world – including Russia – where Russians are marching forward,” Aivars Slucis said in an email published on a Latvian news web site this week. Slucis noted that as a doctor, he cannot return to Latvia because “I wouldn’t be able to treat Russians and Latvians equally in Latvia, which is not allowed. This is why I’m waiting.”
Kristovskis wrote a complete answer, filled with polite agreements. The letter began with words “I agree with your vision and evaluation” of the situation. The correspondence was made public yesterday after the parliament voted on a new government, effectively appointing Kristovskis a new foreign minister. Today, the opposition for calling for his dismissal. The opposition has called him a xenophobe who would not be a good candidate to represent Latvia internationally. When he arrived to the parliament this morning, he seemed nervous. Maybe it was because he was running; maybe for some other reason, but his hands were shaking as he read out loud passages from the email exchange. His political ambitions and sheer sloppiness got the best of him. He seemingly desires to be liked by everyone, including the members of his party so much so that he is unwilling to ignore anyone, including the most radical people in his party – the Civic Union.
For the Civic Union, the politics is a balancing act between the somber silent reasonable minority and the loud controversial majority. The current government would be wise to watch every step, double-check every move as it enjoys a mere slim majority in the 100-member parliament. It doesn’t bode well for Latvia’s political stability.
Update: The Mayo Clinic in the United States has launched an investigation into Dr. Slucis’ letter to Krisotvskis, written from Slucis’ work e-mail account.
Oct 05
AleksNational Minorities, Politics, The Dombrovskis government
RIGA – Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis’ Unity bloc has begun moving out of its campaign headquarters in central Riga, leaving behind an empty office space, folded posters, and cardboard chairs. With the coalition talks on the way, parties muffled their pre-election rhetoric and have set aside their principles until the next municipal elections in three years.
In many ways, the Saturday general election was a historic one and Latvians must be proud of their parliamentary democracy. For the first time ever in Latvia’s history, the least number of political blocs will be represented in the next parliament. Only five. Consolidated parliament means the country is maturing in the ways of the true parliamentary democracy.
For the first time in Latvia’s history and – perhaps Europe’s – voters gave a sound mandate to the same government that raised their taxes and cut public wages. It shows the intelligence of the Latvian voters who didn’t buy the aggressive expensive populist campaign of the bloc For a Good Latvia, which won only 8 seats. According to the recent calculations, each seat cost the bloc more than 100,000 lats (200,000 USD) – unheard of by Latvian standards. It also shows that people understand the clear message that no magic solutions exist. One must get one’s financial house in order by making tough decisions on the budget consolidation. Call it the Latvian realism.
The key here was definitely Dombrovskis himself. As someone described him, “an honest, competent clerk,” who earned credibility with the Latvian public. The global crisis has made it possible to craft the lean mean government machine that would stop wasting the taxpayer money. It is an opportunity to create a better Latvia.
For the first time in Latvia’s history, a real possibility of forging a coalition with Harmony Centre exists. A perpetual opposition party bloc, Harmony Centre represents the Russian-speaking minority, 27 percent of the 2.2 million people. In part, thanks to the crisis, the sensitive issues of the language and citizenship have taken the back seat, focusing the debates on economic policies.
With the elections behind us, now comes the time for realpolitik and compromises. Who wants to take the sole responsibility for making tough calls on budget spending and taxes? In this case, it is best to forge a rainbow coalition to be able to share the responsibility for the future tax hikes and salary cuts. It would also halt any future drum for the public support to call for the snap general elections. In an ironic twist, the Unity sponsored the measure in the outgoing parliament.
The realpolitik makes for strange bedfellows. A newly elected member of parliament, Lolita Čīgane may end up working in the same government as the Union of Greens and Farmers, the party bloc, representing interests of the Latvia’s charming minigarch, Aivars Lembergs. Ēlerte has spent the last 15 years fighting the government corruption as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Diena. The Latvian nationalist Ina Druviete may crawl into bed with the likes of Nikolajs Kabanovs, who at one time has wiped his face on the flag of Latvia. As the minister of education in 2004, Druviete oversaw the completion of the education language reform in the minority schools, which caused huge protests from the Russian-speaking minority.
Of course, the ethnic division has not disappeared. Many Latvians fear the Moscow’s long arm. Many Russians struck off the Latvian names from the Harmony Centre party list. Two groups of young people from the Latvian and Russian communities broke into a fight on the election night in the Old Town. Clearly, there is plenty to do.
The first positive steps toward a better Latvia have been taken on the election day. It is shared responsibility for the future of the country with the group that has been shunned from political decision-making since the restored independence in 1991. And the consolidated society and the good governance could withstand any future crises. It will be all residents of Latvia who will reap the benefits.
Jun 02
AleksEconomy, Politics, The Dombrovskis government
RIGA – Every once in a while, it’s good to return from hiatus to point out the stupidities of the pre-election life in Latvia. Things in Latvia are so bad that even a fake letter from the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn appears as a result of the work of some amateur and incompetent goon, who perhaps serves the people interested in instability head of the elections. It was reported that the head of the IMF allegedly urged Latvian authorities to move towards “the mini-devaluation” in the letter that appears to be an answer to someone in “the Republic of Latvia.” The letter, which you can see here, had no proper letterhead and subtle grammatical errors.
“We are confident,” the letter said, “that in the long run a[sic] timely decision on this matter will certainly be satisfying to all sides. I would appreciate an [sic] immediate information about progress in your discussions about the widening of the fluctuation band of the Latvian currency against EUR. It will improve the basis for our following in-depth negotiations.”
The letter’s concluding paragraph says, “I am certain that only working in the spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation we can fasten[sic] the overcoming of the crisis in your country.”
Articles, such as a and the, have never been popular among non-native speakers from Latvia. Just read this blog.
Coincidentally, the People’s Party re-discovered the former guarantor of stability and former prime minister Aigars Kalvītis, who was probably stuck in the closet somewhere until the better times would come. He admitted some of mistakes while he was in the office. Kalvītis said the government should have devalued the currency, widened the corridor to plus/minus 15 percent to help the country get out of the crisis. I can’t say whether it was right or wrong to keep the currency peg, but it appears to be rather interesting that he came out with it at the same time as the letter began circulating suggesting the very same thing.
Apr 21
AleksHistory, The Dombrovskis government
RIGA – Most things in Latvia seem to occur randomly and often unexpectedly. Take, for example, last week’s failed re-election of the prosecutor general Jānis Maizītis, whose term in office expires on May 11. The political establishment had said they pulled their support behind the only candidate for the prosecutor general. On TV hours before the vote, political leaders one by one said they would vote to re-elect Maizītis, who has been serving his two five-year terms as the prosecutor general since 2000.
Instead, they pulled “Et, tu, Brute?”
It came as a surprise to Maizītis himself, who, following the vote, issued a thinly-veiled threat to make reveal dirt on a few members of parliament. It could serve as a ticking time bomb ahead of the October election.
So, in Latvia, one can never be sure of a political game’s outcome. Words often don’t mean anything. In spite of the progress made so far, risks to the IMF-led three-year loan program remain very much real. Even though one opposition party offered its support to the government, the risks to the stability of the minority government of Valdis Dombrovskis remain high.
It would take a fortune-teller to predict how it will ends. But in case of Latvia, even if you thought one can make a reasonable expectation that a certain event may occur, it still comes as a surprise, forcing Latvia to perpetually react to events rather than prepare for them.
For example, in 13 days, Latvia will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the restoration of its independence from the Soviet Union. The government plans a series of events celebrating the event as the democracy in today’s Latvia has surpassed our first democratic experiment before the Second World War.
The anniversary of the restoration of independence came as surprise to two young Latvian girls on the street. Seeing streets adorned with national colors, the girls became confused.
“What’s the date today?”
“April 21″
“What are we celebrating?”
I helped them out.
“Ah, sorry. We live in ignorance,” they said.
Apparently, so did the government. The anniversary came as a surprise to the cash-strapped Latvia plans to spend (the link is in Latvian) almost 240,000 lats (US$480,000) on the festivities from the fund for “the unforeseen events” in the state budget. Or a rainy day fund. Any one with a calendar could point to May 4 and tell you that it is the anniversary of the restoration of Latvia’s independence (This video of the Singing Revolution is here). But apparently, the public officials couldn’t account for it in within their existing budgets.
Better yet, the fund has become the cash cow for ministries. Last year, the government even paid out salaries from the fund. Out of original 16.4 million lats earmarked for the fund this year, the government has already spent 9.95 million lats. And it’s only April.
Mar 22
AleksThe Dombrovskis government
Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis speaks the media. Photo courtesy of Valsts Kanceleja.
RIGA – Speaking recently at a press conference on the eve of the first anniversary in office, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said the power “fell at his feet” after the political parties in the previous coalition avoided taking leadership of this country in the middle of the worst economic disaster of the last 20 years. He picked up the baton, doing what needed to be done – however unpopular it was – explaining to the public why his government has had to make tough choices that don’t win elections.
If one is to believe the polls, his tenure as the prime minister so far has been a successful one – people generally have the impression that Dombrovskis, 38, is trying to do the right thing for his country. According to a poll by GFK, 41 percent of the public support Dombrovskis, a high degree of popularity for the prime minister amidst lack of credibility to the government and the most severe economic crisis since Latvia broke free from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Today as four ministers from the leading and bleeding People’s Party submitted their letters of resignation, it created another golden opportunity for Dombrovskis to show his skills for compromise and creativity in search of a political consensus, ahead of the October election. A crisis fosters creativity. For the first time in Latvia’s modern history, political creativity and the government’s ability to negotiate with opposition and seek consensus will be important in the coming six months.
And it began at the end of last week, when Dombrovskis met with the motley crew, known as the Harmony Centre. The Dombrovskis’ coalition is planning a meet with Šleserites from Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way this week. He’s also meeting with the pro-Russian PCTVL, trying to round up support for the government’s initiatives that would not jeopardize the 7.5 billion euro program. In one sense, the future of this country depends on him.
Mar 09
AleksParliament, Politics, The Dombrovskis government
RIGA – A proposal to cut the value-added tax for the tourism industry has been wobbling through the parliament. In spite of the objections by the party of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and contrary to the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund, the proposal was sent to the parliament for a vote. The opposition party, Latvia’s Way/Latvia’s First (LPP/LC) and the government heavyweight – though largely impotent – People’s Party (TP) laid their hands to move the proposal out of the committee, implying a closer cooperation between the two parties, representing the views of their respective founders.
Speaking to the press after the Monday coalition meeting, a high-ranking TP member Armands Vents Krauklis said that the lenders were not speaking in “a form of an ultimatum,” but that “through flowers” said that lowering VAT “would not be the best solution.” As conspiracy theories suggest, some Latvian officials expect an ultimatum from the international lenders because it is the only way to move forward.
The vote also raises questions about the stability of the government and the coalition’s commitment to the painful IMF-EU funded program, which foresees a combination of budget cuts and tax hikes in the amount of up 900 million lats. While it is a wide known fact that this current government is largely a marriage of convenience, it appears the People’s Party is playing for both teams. On one hand, it is one of the five parties in the coalition. On the other hand, it voted down against the prime minister in a crucial vote for the IMF-EU program to continue. It is no wonder that the Union of Farmers and Greens, aka the Green Peasants, had asked to meet Dombrovskis this afternoon to discuss the issue.
The supporters say that the move to cut the VAT from the current 21 percent to 10 percent for the tourism industry would stimulate the economy which is in the deepest recession since Latvia broke free from the Soviet Union almost 20 years ago. The estimates by the ministry of the economy show that cutting VAT would create 2,000 new work places, a drop in the bucket in the country where every fifth Latvian is officially unemployed. And it remains to be seen if the VAT cut would not affect the budget deficit.
It also raises questions: why tourism? What would prevent other industries, such as farming, dairy, food industries, to line up outside the parliament, demanding that the VAT be lowered for them also? Why not lower VAT for medicine? Education? Freelance journalists? Or why not lower the VAT across the board, assuming the government can raise revenue by taxing luxuries to bridge the yawning budget deficit down to 6 percent in 2011?
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