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Today, on October 25, the Saeima gave a vote of confidence to the Cabinet of Ministers composed by Valdis Dombrovskis with 57 votes in favour of. This will be the third government headed by Dombrovskis.
Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis in his address to the Saeima members noted that the political culture in Latvia is gradually but evidently changing.” Such important principles for a democratic society as the Rule of Law and sustainable social system rank ever higher on the parties’ agenda, maintaining the economic priorities. Strengthening of the Rule of Law shall be one of the priorities of the government. A lot of work needs to be done in the Cabinet of Ministers and in the Saeima”, said V. Dombrovskis.
The Prime Minister also pointed out the urgent matters for the new government to deal with. “Firstly, it is the end of October and this budget year will end soon which means the necessity to immediately start the planning of the next year’s draft budget. Adoption of the budget will not be easy, considering that this is the third budget where fiscal consolidation is made. The amount of consolidation will depend on the situation in Europe and in the world as well as on our negotiations with creditors regarding the specific positions of income and expenditure.
As the second important matter for the new government to immediately deal with, he mentioned that this year Latvia must successfully conclude the International Loan Program by indicating that one of the factors of comparative success of Latvia is the confidence of the international community in Latvia’s ability to handle its problems.
“Thirdly, the current process of coalition-forming showed, that this convocation of the Saeima, unfortunately, is even more divided than the previous one, while the long-drawn manoeuvres of the parties undermine the voter’s trust in the political system of Latvia. Political instability is a threat to our country’s successful overcoming of the crisis and further economic development. Serious responsibility lies with the new coalition to ensure political stability as well as predictable and constructive work,” emphasized Prime Minister V. Dombrovskis.
The Prime Minister at the Saeima also drew attention on the number of non-party professionals in this government – five ministers -, which is the largest number after regaining independence.
”It’s a proof that the parties firstly value the professional skills of the candidates of ministers, setting it higher than party affiliation,” Dombrovskis expressed his conviction.
“Already during the development of the draft government declaration it became clear that candidates of ministers are ready for new, sometimes even more radical reforms than before. These are very specific cases, such as amendments to the Construction Law to simplify procedures for issuing construction permits and, thus, to reduce bureaucracy and corruption risks and such systematic reforms as the reform of the education system, or more precisely - its continuation.
It’s true that the implementation of reforms requires involvement of the public. In the time of my first government, a Reform Management Group was developed by involving the government’s social and cooperation partners – the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia, labour unions, the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments and, if necessary – sector organizations. Several minister candidates have actively participated in the work of the Reform Management Group by representing partners of the government.
I believe, they can confirm the importance of the involvement of the public in the process of progressing reforms. We shall consequently hold on to these principles in the work of the next government,” said Dombrovskis in his address to the members of the Saeima.
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