Latvian lawmakers are considering whether to publicly disclose the administrative offenses of municipal deputies, a move prompted by recent revelations about a former vice-mayor and a broader discussion about transparency in local government. The debate comes as scrutiny increases over the conduct of public officials and whether voters have sufficient access to information about their representatives’ records.
Aigars Šķēls, the former vice-mayor of Madona, resigned from his post on January 15 after learning he would be denied security clearance to access state secrets, according to reports from Latvian media. Šķēls is currently the only vice-mayor without such clearance.
The situation with Šķēls surfaced after Latvian Television (LTV) reported that he had accumulated more than 30 administrative offenses. The information was obtained through unofficial channels, as municipalities are not required to publicly report the transgressions of their deputies in the same way that the parliament does. This disparity has raised questions about whether voters are entitled to know about the legal issues faced by their elected officials.
Members of the Saeima State Administration and Local Government Commission, many of whom previously held positions in local government, generally expressed support for the idea of publicly disclosing municipal deputies’ offenses.
“I think – yes, that could be done. Since society has the right to know what deputies have done,” said Saeima Speaker Daiga Mieriņa, a former chairwoman of the Carnikava municipality. “It could be published in the same newsletter or local publication.”
Uģis Mitrevics, a Saeima deputy and former mayor of Sigulda, stated, “I would say – this proposal is worth considering. And the principle of proportionality would be logical, that such information is provided to deputies at the beginning or end of a municipal council meeting. This would avoid backroom talk – someone knows something, talks about it, and then it’s discussed more than it should be, or it’s ignored altogether. Therefore – it would be a logical proposal.”
Andrejs Ceļapīters, a Saeima deputy and former mayor of Madona, added, “I wouldn’t object to voting for such a proposal. Why not?”
Inga Bērziņa, a Saeima deputy and former chairwoman of the Kuldīga municipality, also voiced her support. “Yes, definitely. I would definitely support such a proposal. I think it is only normal if residents and municipal employees know if a deputy has been administratively penalized. Definitely! I would support such a norm!”
Māris Kučinskis, a Saeima deputy and former mayor of Valmiera, expressed skepticism, stating, “I don’t believe and don’t think that local residents don’t know what a deputy has done. There is an opposition for that purpose. I think everyone knows everything.”
Oļegs Burovs, the chairman of the commission and former mayor of Riga, has consulted with the Legal Bureau and plans to evaluate the issue within the commission in the coming week. “I will say with my municipal experience – the question is probably in place,” Burovs said. “If a decision has been made on administrative liability and we are talking about more than just speeding violations, yes, it has a place.”
The Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development, Raimonds Čudars, also supports the idea of disclosing offenses, but raised the question of frequency. “There is a require to discuss the regularity – how often. I assume that in a pre-election year, it would be worth considering, so that we have a kind of ‘balance sheet’,” he said.
The organization “Delna,” which advocates for transparency, has previously highlighted the shortcomings of municipal ethics codes. Agnija Birule, deputy director of “Delna,” explained that an ethics code is ineffective if a violation is not officially known. “This approach, when an official institution announces it and there is such an official channel – then this information reaches the municipality. Ideally – to the ethics committee. And then the ethics committee considers it neutrally and objectively.”
Some information regarding the conflicts of interest of municipal deputies and other officials is already publicly available on the website of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau. The Information Openness Law requires officials, including municipal deputies, to disclose information about their offenses if requested by citizens.
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