There may be only 100 members of the Latvian parliament, but that didn’t stop nearly a tenth of them falling foul of either the law or the Saeima’s own rules between September last year and January this year.
In all, nine members of the 14th Saeima were held administratively liable for one thing or another, the Mandates, Ethics and Submissions Committee reported to the Saeima on Thursday, February 26th, based on information provided by the Information Center of the Ministry of the Interior.
According to the center’s information from the Criminal Registry, three deputies have been held administratively liable for exceeding the permitted speed limit. Namely, Gunārs Kūtris (Greens and Farmers Union) was clocked exceeding the speed limit by 11 to 20 kilometers per hour, as was Ilze Indriksone (National Alliance). Meanwhile Linda Matisone (United List) was in even more of a hurry and was caught exceeding the speed limit by 21 to 30 kilometers per hour.
Other MPs have also been held administratively liable for other road traffic violations. Dāvis Mārtiņš Daugavietis (New Unity) and Artūrs Butāns (National Alliance) have been held accountable for failing to observe roadsigns. Saeima deputy Zane Skujiņa-Rubene (New Unity), on the other hand, has been held accountable for driving in the left lane or on a tram track when this is not permitted.
Moving away from the roads, MP Maija Armaņeva (Latvia First) has been held administratively liable for violating the restrictions and prohibitions on conflicts of interest for public officials set out in the law, as well as for performing the functions of a public official in a conflict of interest situation.
Jeļena Kļaviņa (Independent) has been held administratively liable for failure to use the state language to the extent necessary for the performance of professional and official duties, if regulatory enactments provide for the use of the state language.
Perhaps most intriguingly of all MP Didzis Šmits (Independent) has been held administratively liable for violating the rules for the circulation of gas weapons and signal weapons or their ammunition. Sadly no further details of the weapons offence were recorded in the committee’s report beyond the fact that Šmits, in common with his renegade colleagues listed above, was fined an unspecified amount.
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