As reported earlier by LSM, a recording posted on social media from a meeting of the Budget Commission of the Jelgava Regional Council, which was joined remotely by the chairman of the council, Madars Lasmanis, shows Lasmanis in a car rather obviously touching a woman in the backseat. Lasmanis denies all allegations of public indecency.
The Jelgava County Council meeting on Wednesday started with a look back at the recording of the Budget Commission meeting, at a moment that caused a stir when the chairman remotely logged into the meeting. All the Members who spoke at the meeting said that the Chairman should resign himself. Some Members also stressed that the case could not be decided without taking into account how the recording of the sitting had come into the public domain. Members blamed the council staff and the Executive Director, who, in their assessment, may have encouraged the release of the recordings of the closed session.
Andris Ozoliņš (Green Party of Latvia), a Jelgava municipal councillor, said: "But the municipal executive has acted just as unethically by leaking this video on public networks. These are boots from the same pair. Lasmanis casts a shadow on himself with his actions, then the municipality casts a shadow on the whole municipality with the release of this footage."
Councillor Uldis Ainārs (New Unity) said: "Mr Lasmanis's actions are unethical, I completely agree, I think Mr Lasmanis should resign himself. But this action from the executive, where we see that he is merging with the political power, with a particular political force, I think is not supportable. So I cannot decide at the moment which is better."
The meeting rejected, by nine votes to five, with four abstentions, the inclusion of a supplementary question on the dismissal of Mayor Lasmanis on the agenda.
The vote on whether Lasmanis should remain in office would therefore take place at a separate sitting on April 3.
