Rinkēvičs told the "Good morning" program that he cannot support the practice of amending election laws during an election period. "We can talk about something during the next campaigns, but it has often been the case that in the pre-election situation laws are hurriedly passed, which are problematic," the President emphasized.
According to him, the current case, which centers on restricting the media's ability to hold election debates in languages other than Latvian is a problematic case. Rinkevičs agrees with those who believe that agitation should be separated from debate.
"Journalists [in debates] do not campaign for someone, but ask questions and inform. Campaigning is separate from debate," emphasized the president, who was once a journalist himself.
Rinkēvičs expressed the hope that the Saeima will not accept the bill in its current version if it is presented to him for promulgation. Otherwise, he sees no option, but to ask the Saeima to review the bill again. Under the Latvian system, a President cannot simply strike a law down, but it can be returned to Saeima for further consideration if the President has serious concerns about it.
At the same time, Rinkēvičs suggested that public media has also been at the center of heated discussions recently. "I often get the feeling that a situation has arisen here as well, where there is not a serious or normal conversation, but mutual shouting. I have not always seen that both sides listen to justified criticism, including you, the journalists," said the president, who hosted a session at Rīga Castle in April in which various people with a view on media matters stood up and said what they thought.
"Journalists also often understand editorial independence in the sense that 'We do what we want'. No one has the right to say a critical good or bad word," the president claimed.
