51 MPs voted for the amendments to the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, which provide for the merger of the two municipalities, in the first reading, 20 were against and none abstained.
Proposals for second reading must be submitted by May 27 and will be considered at final reading on June 13.
The municipality of Varakļāni is the only municipality whose merger with one of the neighboring municipalities remained an unresolved issue after administrative-territorial reform.
In polls conducted in the municipality of Varakļāni, a significant majority of the population supported mergers with the municipality of Madona, which was also based on earlier cooperation well before the administrative-territorial reform.
