Zonberga said that Latvia has long been left with no responsible authority for the development of civil society and the strengthening of democracy. The community is organizing itself but support mechanisms are needed.
It is also a matter of the geopolitical situation and how cohesive and able to organize itself society is, Zonberga said.
She explained that business and local government interests are often represented in decision-making and that there are few public groups, but if we want decisions focusing on the needs of society, public groups should be heard and civil dialogue should be in place.
According to Zonberga, around 30,000 non-governmental organizations have been registered in Latvia, around 17,000 are active, while around 1,000 are involved in active decision-making, so a mechanism should be created for people to understand that they should organize and participate in the formation of the state.
It could be a commission or council that approaches the issue of how to strengthen civil society, Zonberga conceded. Representatives of the Civic Alliance plan to discuss this on Tuesday, August 29, at a meeting with the President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs.
