The panel of Constitutional Court judges also decided to open a case over the constitutionality of the law regulating referendums in Latvia, BNS reported, but ruled against starting proceedings over the rest of the application filed by 30 lawmakers.

BNS also reported that the case has been opened over provisions of the referendum law under which a legislative initiative must be put to a referendum if the parliament has not passed it without amendments, but it is supported by at least one-tenth of eligible voters.

According to the newswire, Constitutional Court judge Aija Branta said that the court found the request to assess the constitutionality of these provisions grounded from the legal point of view.
The parliament is now expected to submit a written reply on the issue by March 20, 2012.
The panel of judges also decided to ask the Constitutional Court chairman to call a sitting on an issue that is not regulated by the Constitutional Court law, namely, the lawmakers’ request to suspend the referendum, BNS reported.

According to the newswire, Constitutional Court chairman Kūtris said that the judges came to two conclusions upon considering the lawmakers’ request to stop the referendum.

“First of all, the Constitutional Court takes a temporary measure, namely, suspends a process if it can lead to a failure to enforce a court ruling. The Constitutional Court assessed whether the possible court rulings [regarding the constitutionality of the referendum] could be enforced and concluded that they could be enforced in any circumstances and the applicants’ arguments are insufficient to conclude that this would be a senseless court action,” Kūtris was quoted as saying.

Secondly, BNS cited Kūtris as saying, the popular vote is already in process, this is a legislative process, and the people as a legislator will go to polls to express its position on the given initiative. The court would need very significant and substantial reasons to suspend this legislative process, but the Constitutional Court did not find such reasons, Kūtris said.
“Thus the court has opened a case on the particular draft law on referendum but at the same time decided against suspending the referendum as a legislative process,” Kūtris was quoted as saying.
According to BNS, in their application the lawmakers had also asked the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of President Andris Bērziņš’s decision of December 20, 2012, and the parliament presidium’s findings of December 20, 2012, by which the legislative initiative aimed at making Russian a state language in Latvia was sent to the parliament and put on its agenda. The Constitutional Court decided not to open proceedings over this request.

After the parliament rejected the bill, BNS reported, the Central Election Commission announced a referendum on the legislative initiative, slating it for February 18.

According to the Rīga-based newswire, Ušakovs said on the Latvian public television on November 16 that the situation regarding the national issues in Latvia is “far from normal.” Ušakovs was quoted as saying, “I do not have any doubts that the referendum will not have a positive result, it is not possible to gather almost 800,000 votes for the issue,” adding that he still hopes that the necessary number of signatures will be collected in the signature collection campaign to submit the Constitutional amendments to the parliament.

Thus, the referendum will be symbolic to attract attention to the situation in Latvia, Ušakovs was quoted as saying.

According to BNS, nearly 40,000 signatures of eligible voters have been collected during the first two weeks of an official survey on a proposal to make Russian a second state language in Latvia, which will last till the end of November. For the proposal to be submitted to the parliament, BNS reported, at least 154,000 signatures have to be collected. If the lawmakers rejected the proposal or decided to amend it, a referendum will have to be organized.

On November 17, 2011, a day before Latvian Independence Day, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and the members of his cabinet presented the Cabinet of Ministers Award to five distinguished individuals.

This is one of the highest awards given by the Latvian government for a remarkable contribution to the country’s development. The Cabinet of Ministers Award is presented only once a year, a tradition that stretches back to the 1930s. Nominated by members of the government, recipients of the award have represented a wide array of professional fields, ranging from scientists and doctors to artists and writers. This year, the award will be presented to film director Jānis Streičs, flower expert Jānis Rukšāns, scientist Edvards Liepiņš, Rundāle Palace Museum director Imants Lancmanis, and Occupation Museum of Latvia chairman Valters Nollendorfs.

According to the Rīga-based newswire, before marching to the government building, the students had gathered by the Latvian Academy of Arts, where Latvian Academy of Culture rector Jānis Siliņš addressed the rally, expressing joy that students from so many different higher education institution are taking part in the demonstration to show that culture, art, and education are insufficiently funded in Latvia and that the funding has to be increased.

BNS reported that the students had also prepared gifts for the government: an unpainted canvas, a theatrical costume, a musical instrument, as well as several scripts. The gifts are meant to imply that without educated people, ministers will be left to paint, perform, and play musical instruments themselves.

A BNS reporter observed in the crowd students of the Latvian Academy of Art and the Academy of Culture, the initiators of the protest, as well as students from the University of Latvia, Venstpils University, Liepaja University, Daugavpils University, and the Latvian University of Agriculture.

According to BNS, several students had arrived with drums and the flags of their universities, as well as posters with slogans “How Much More?,” “Money for Education,” and “Stop the Cuts.” One of the posters featured Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis with two characters sitting on his soldiers. One of them symbolized foreign influence and the other the Latvian nation.

BNS also reported that after reaching the government building, the students started marching around it, singing and chanting slogans in support of culture and creativity and against Latvia’s new Education Minister Roberts Ķīlis, who has proposed a complete transition to paid education and government loans to all students. A young protester with an inscription on his back saying “Don’t Undress Culture” attracted police officers’ attention and was told to put on his clothes.
About a dozen officers were guarding the entrance of the Cabinet of Ministers building, and no ministers emerged to talk to the students, BNS reported. The students’ gifts to the ministers were laid at the doorstep of the government building.

After protesting for about an hour, the students dispersed to return to the Academy of Art.
The students staged the protest against education budget cuts the Latvian government is planning for 2012.

When compared to the 10th Saeima elections, 13 additional polling stations had been set up, also in the countries where previously there were none.

The largest number of polling stations, 15, was in the United States; there were six the United Kingdom; and five stations each in Germany and in Australia. Voters could also cast their ballots at polling station in Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, China, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Georgia, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Twenty one polling stations also offered a possibility to vote by mail, which was used by 539 voters.

Disregarding the fact that this was an early election with a very short preparatory period, the election process abroad took place smoothly, without incidents and irregularities.

The staff of the Foreign Ministry Consular Department and the Information Technology Department were present at the Central Election Commission and coordinated the election process in polling station abroad by providing the required advice on the election procedure to the commissions at those polling stations.

Given the time zone differences between the countries where polling stations were located the Election Day abroad can be said to have lasted for 32 hours. The first polling stations, those in Brisbane and Perth (Australia), welcomed the voters at midnight Latvian time on September 16/17, but the last stations on the west coast of the United States, in San Francisco and Los Angeles, were closed at 8 am Latvian time on September 18.

A total of 14085 voters took place in the election of the 11th Saeima abroad. High voter turnout was reported in U.K. (London) – 1407, Sweden (Stockholm) – 871, Ireland (Dublin) – 667, Canada (Toronto) – 602, Norway (Oslo) – 577, Belgium (Brussels) – 553, the Netherlands (the Hague) – 348, Denmark (Copenhagen) – 343, the US (Washington) – 325, Russia (Moscow) – 315, Germany (Berlin) – 309, Estonia ( Tallinn) – 248, Australia (Melbourne) – 235, Poland (Warsaw) – 200, Lithuania ( Vilnius) – 195), France ( Paris) – 192.

KNAB representative Diāna Kurpniece told the Riga-based newswire that one of the reasons why lobbyists had to be identified as such was to distinguish between legal lobbying and illegal influence peddling. This could be done also without creating a register of lobbyists, provided that a lobbying law defining lobbyism and the limits for legal lobbying is written.

But considering that the public needed information first of all about lobbyists active in the parliament, a register could be established for legal lobbyists, who would want themselves to be put on the register voluntarily in order to dissociate themselves from illegal influence peddlers, she explained to BNS.

In order to encourage lobbyists to register, BNS reported, the registered lobbyists could be granted various privileges, for example, they would be supplied with information about the draft legislation in their respective field or invited to advisory councils, or issued a regular visitor’s pass to the Cabinet and the parliament.

According to BNS, alongside the definition of legal lobbying, the new law should also identify the situations that do not qualify as lobbying such as filing complaints, actions taken as part of administrative, criminal or civil proceedings, making of proposals during pickets and demonstrations, provision of information for certification purposes, etc.

BNS reported that KNAB has proposed to divide lobbyists into three groups, namely, professional lobbyists such as PR experts, lawyers, accountants and other professional advisors, who get paid for their services; business lobbyists, who would be any private entities or individual business operators seeking to promote their own interests; and NGO lobbyists – societies, foundations, professional associations, and other non-governmental organizations lobbying for the interests of their respective sector or organization before the public or municipal authorities.

According to figures quoted by BNS, the number of the jobless registered with the NVA at the beginning of this week was 135,280, or by 2,358 people less than at the end of July.

BNS also reported that among Latvia’s regions, the lowest jobless rate (8.9 percent) was reported in the Riga region, as usual. The western Latvian region of Kurzeme followed with 12.6 percent, the central Latvian region of Zemgale with 13 percent, the northeastern region of Vidzeme with 13.4 percent, and the eastern region of Latgale still showed the highest unemployment rate, at 20.1 percent.

According to the Riga-based newswire, the Latvian capital showed the lowest jobless rate compared to other largest towns in Latvia: 8.3 percent in mid-August. The northwestern Latvian town of Ventspils followed with a 9.1 percent and Jelgava in central Latvia had a 9.2 percent unemployment rate, BNS reported. The highest unemployment rate was still observed in the eastern Latvian town of Rēzekne at 17.9 percent.

In late July of this year the unemployment rate in Latvia was 12.1 percent of the economically active population, BNS reported, with 137,638 jobless registered with the NVA.

According to BNS, the number of the jobless registered with the NVA on July 24 was 138,961.

The news service also reported that, among Latvia’s regions, the lowest jobless rate (9.1 percent) was observed in the Rīga region, as usual. The western Latvian region of Kurzeme followed with 12.9 percent; the central Latvian region of Zemgale with 13.4 percent, the northeastern region of Vidzeme with 13.9 percent; and the eastern region of Latgale still showed the highest unemployment rate, at 20.5 percent.

According to BNS, the Latvian capital Rīga showed the lowest jobless rate compared to other largest towns in Latvia: 8.5 percent in the second half of July. The northwestern Latvian town of Ventspils followed with a 9.5 percent unemployment rate; Jelgava in central Latvia also had a 9.5 percent rate. The highest unemployment rate was still observed in the eastern Latvian town of Rēzekne, at 18.2 percent, BNS reported.

According to BNS, on July 17, 2011, the unemployment rate in Latvia was 12.4 percent of the economically active population, with 139,986 jobless registered with the NVA.

The percentage of applications about matters falling into KNAB’s sphere of competence has grown from 46 percent to nearly 60 percent, suggesting increased public awareness of the scope of KNAB’s competence, the anti-corruption office told BNS.

According to BNS, 58 percent of all applications received in 2010 by KNAB from individuals were in line with KNAB’s competence, but 42 percent contained information on the matters that were outside the bureau’s competence.

The percentage of anonymous applications has declined, which demonstrates that people do not fear reporting possible offenses by state officials. The average number of applications received by KNAB annually has been steady during the last three years, which is largely due to steady public trust in the anti-corruption office, reports BNS.

Most of the applications concern possible corruption crimes in municipal authorities and businesses. The number of complaints about various government institutions or state-owned companies has increased. About 5 percent of all applications received last year were about possible illegalities in public procurement.

According to BNS, during the first six months of 2011 KNAB had received 78 visitors, up 26 percent from the first half of 2010. So far this year, KNAB had received applications from 460 individuals and 81 corporate entities as compared to 450 and 87 respectively in the first half of last year.

On June 16, in his last address to Saeima president Valdis Zatlers stressed that separating politics from business is the most urgent task. He also pointed to a gap between society and state authority.

Zatlers went on to say that unlike other pre-election periods when politicians are reluctant to take unpopular measures that might put off their electorate, this is a time for action. „Now that the voters have been through the crisis, that they have regained confidence that changes are possible in the Latvian state, only people of action are going to win popular support,” the president said.

Zatlers named a number of tasks the parliament should urgently tackle, including passing legislation that would criminalize excessive campaign spending, restrict political advertising 30 days prior to elections in order to reduce political parties’ dependence on thier sponsors, to dismiss Normunds Vilnītis as head of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) and to define in the KNAB law clear requirements candidates for KNAB head must meet.

„My four years of presidency fell in a historic moment when Latvia had to cope with lots of difficulties:  the financial and economic crisis, hardships that affected each family, hardships both the Latvian government and parliament had to deal with,” said Zatlers. „External confidence in Latvia’s capability has been restored and this is our common achievement, but if we look at internal confidence in Latvia’s capability, the situation is much sadder. There is still a wide gap between state authority and society. People are still asking if the decisions that are being taken here, in the parliament and government, are in their best interests. For the time being, there are doubts about that,” Zatlers admitted. „I will stress it once more — this is a time for action, this is a dynamic time, people will not be standing aback,” he said. „Regarding the period after July 23 [the day of a referendum Zatlers has called to dissolve the parliament], we first of all must think about us as politicians, our code of conduct that we must make known to our voters and that we must follow,” Zatlers said.