The People’s Party’s election campaign is unethical and not befitting to the status of the Prime Minister’s party.

The involvement of People’s Party (TP) candidates for election to Parliament in the election campaign has so far been unethical, and it does not befit the status of the prime minister’s party. TI Latvia has sent letters to Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis, Health Minister Gundars Bērziņš, Culture Minister Helēna Demakova, People’s Party chairman Atis Slakteris, and MP Raimonds Pauls, pointing to the legal and ethical problems which relate to the TP campaign. Because the People’s Party plays a leading role in government, TI Latvia calls on the party to ensure honest and equal political competition in the election. TI Latvia calls on TP politicians to distance themselves from advertisements that have been produced by the organisation “Society for Freedom of Speech”. It asks ministers to demand that those government officials who are under their subordination and supervision to refrain from taking part in advertising processes.

The chief of staff of the prime minister’s office, Jurģis Liepnieks, established the organisation “Society for the Freedom of Speech” and started to praise TP candidates for election. This is a clear evasion of the political party financing system. That law provides for a restrictive catalogue of financial sources for parties, and parties are not allowed to supplement their campaign with additional income. Liepnieks himself has admitted publicly that there are “loopholes” in the law, but the People’s Party has been in power since the 7th Saeima election in 1998, and this argument must be seen as unethical and irresponsible.

The process of praising people on the basis of resources of unknown origin is incompatible with the duties of the prime minister and members of government. It is a violation of the principle of democratic accountability. The job of government members is to determine the origin of advertising resources without any delay. The excuse that the organisation must file its financial report with the State Revenue Service only later is unacceptable among those who hold high office.

The organisation of Mr. Liepnieks can not be seen as an independent third party, because it is owned by party functionaries and political government officials. Jurģis Liepnieks has organized TP election campaigns, and he is chief of staff at the office of the prime minister, who represents the same party.
The advertisements in which People’s Party candidates are praised make use of government officials who are subordinated or overseen by the ministers who are being advertised. That is a clear example of a misuse of administrative resources. The same can be said about the open participation of MP Raimonds Pauls in various cultural and entertainment events, making use of public trust in him as an artist for political reasons.

TI Latvia has sent a letter to the minister for regional development and local government affairs, Māris Kučinskis, to point out suspicions to the effect that the minister was advertising himself on the ministry’s homepage. After the letter was sent, the homepage was changed – the text “Jobs Accomplished by the Minister” was changed “Jobs Accomplished”, but the impression that the ministry is personifying the work that has been done has not disappeared. This is another indicator of the practice of unacceptable misuse of administrative resources at the ministerial level.

“The People’s Party has begun a cynical process of avoiding the law and making excuses, and that causes great concerns about the future of this campaign. TI Latvia calls on politicians to observe the law, as well as political ethics. Otherwise, the politicians will create a gap between voters and the political elite, and that can threaten democratic choice in the election that is scheduled for October,” said the chairman of the TI Council, Roberts Putnis.

Contact information:
Robert Putnis
Executive Chairperson
+371-7285585
roberts.putnis@delna.lv