There is no reason to believe that the results of the European Parliament (EP) elections will immediately affect the composition of the coalition and, consequently, the government in Latvia, said Lelde Metla-Rozentāle, lecturer at Riga Stradiņš University and political scientist, in an interview on Latvian Television May 24.
On Thursday, May 23, the Saeima referred to the committees a proposal by opposition MPs to determine by law that pre-election debates are held only in the official language – Latvian. The draft law still needs to be considered in three readings.
The State Security Service (VDD) has launched an investigation into statements made on social networks by European Parliament candidate Olga Čerņavska (Alliance of Young Latvians).
Sigita Roķe, Editor-in-Chief of Latvian Television (LTV), in consultation with the LTV Editorial Board, has decided to cancel the planned European Parliament (EP) pre-election debate in Russian on the public media portal Rus.LSM.lv.
Since the beginning of the pre-election campaign period on February 10 to May 21, the parties and their associations running in the European Parliament elections have spent a total of EUR 1.886 million, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) said Wednesday, May 22.
On June 8 the European Parliament (EP) elections will take place in Latvia. In the previous elections five years ago, the lowest turnout of the population in the whole of Latvia was in the Dagda district, where only 17.5% of the population went to the polls; in some parishes in the district, the number of voters did not exceed a few dozen people, reports Latvian Radio.
The European Parliament (EP) elections will take place in June, with 16 lists of candidates. A survey by pollster SKDS and Latvian Television asked Latvian residents who they would vote for if the EP elections were held in May.
The issue of pre-election debates in Russian in the public media continues to be a hot topic. A few days ago there was a protest in front of the Public Electronic Mass Media Council, and on Monday there is another one.
Several political forces will not take part in pre-election debates and broadcasts in Russian, according to statements by the parties to the media on May 16.
On May 13, the State Language Center (VVC) said in a public statement that it does not support the intention of the Public Electronic Mass Media Council (SEPLP) to hold a session of the European Parliament pre-election debates on public television in Russian.