MP Edgars Tavars: Government treats people worse than animals

Conversation with Saeima deputy, chairman of the Latvian Green Party (Latvijas Zaļā partija) Edgars Tavars

For people who do not really understand the value of money, receiving a large sum of money “could turn into a tragedy, because they are lacking at both financial literacy and other things related to the proper use of money, so that this EUR 500 benefit can be used for the benefit of children", said KPV LV politician Māris Možvillo. Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Jānis Reirs (New Unity, Jaunā Vienotība, JV) said that a one-time payment of 500 euros per child would not be useful. A monthly benefit would be more useful.

I do not want to even mention Možvillo. Speaking about Reirs, the Latvian MEPs Andris Ameriks and Roberts Zīle have said that the Latvian government has not applied for a full support program from the European Union in the person of the Minister of Finance. In my opinion, this information is blaring, to put it mildly, but objectively speaking, it is catastrophic. In the European Union, all Member States are currently struggling to get as much financial support as possible for their country to overcome the economic crisis. Many people do not have enough money in their wallets to pay for heating, there is no food in the refrigerator, their children sit at home and want to eat. There are a lot of people out of work in culture, tourism, hotel and restaurant fields, as well as trade, beauty, etc., but the Minister of Finance philosophizes that it will not be useful to pay the benefit.

In the spring, the interim administration of the Riga City Council postured pompously, closing Tērbatas Street and putting up tents there before the elections, but there has been no real help from the liberal parties of the ruling coalition. Not even as much as to help pay the rent.

Micro-enterprises are being eliminated. And it is happening during a crisis! How can these people get money? They are told that there will be no benefits either. And those who had benefits have already spent them.

The State Revenue Service, which is also the responsibility of the Minister of Finance, is sent to entrepreneurs to squeeze out every last penny. There is a feeling that at one point people will fill their pockets with rocks and go to the Saeima. However, the ruling coalition does not sit in the Saeima, they sit in their bedrooms and pass laws remotely.

The situation is much worse than the government's public broadcasting media report. But even they are now starting to tell. Even those people who are still mostly okay understand that the restrictions that others have are inadequate. Government parties treat people like… I don't know what else is treated like this - even animals are treated better.

One coalition party announces that it'll be done - families with children must be helped during this time. But another party says nothing will be done. Reirs stated that it would not be useful to pay a lump sum of EUR 500 as benefits. A meeting of the coalition council takes place, in which the people are given the finger - no, nothing for you. How can people believe in anything at all?

It won't be long before airBaltic has to receive some 100 million euros again, but no one helps the people - the government is even proud to have saved money by not helping people.

But maybe Reirs is considering stretching it out longer, paying in installments, rather than 500 euros for each child at once?

I don't think he's considering anything at all. The fact is that the captain of the government, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV), is unable to hold the coalition together and every party is doing what it wants. And each party shows its true face.

Māris Kučinskis (ZZS) can be cursed left and right, but when he was prime minister, Reirs could not do such ridiculous things as now. Former Minister of Finance, Dana Reizniece-Ozola (ZZS), was cursed for setting the tax rate at zero for reinvested earnings. But she did the tax changes at a time of GDP growth, not crisis. She abolished the tax on reinvested earnings so that entrepreneurs can invest in their companies. But what is happening now? At the height of the crisis, whole tax regimes are being abolished, leaving people without money. It is surprising that there has not yet been a social eruption, that people are still tolerating it.

The government is currently doing everything possible to make such a social eruption happen. By no means do I want for people to take to the streets and aggressively protest, but I see the government provoking it. It may soon no longer matter whether people are allowed to gather or not.

In Germany, the government is doing everything it can to help entrepreneurs not to lay off workers, to keep jobs so that once work becomes possible again, people can return to work. But in Latvia, when they will be allowed to start again, many won't be able to open. Many will open in another country. If the policy of the SRS (and thus, of Reirs) is that entrepreneurs who owe the state are not allowed to work in this country, then they will work in another country. Entrepreneurs can't even pay employees salaries, but they're told - no, you can't get any benefits because you're in debt to the state. You were working in the micro-enterprise model and can't get anything.

But it was an official, legal tax model! The state itself called for the establishment of micro-enterprises and rejoiced at how many have been established. The state called for entrepreneurship, but now these people are being punished for it.

640 thousand euros have been allocated to the vaccination bureau, another 1.45 million from unforeseen funds will be used for the vaccination IT solution. But the vaccines themselves cost 11 euros per vaccination. How justified is this spending? Maybe it is justified?

This shows the absolute incompetence of the government. At least 70% of the Ministry of Health's offices are currently empty, people are working from home, but new tables and computers are being bought for the vaccination bureau.

Will municipal elections take place in the summer? There are rumors in the ruling circles that they will probably be rescheduled.

It can already be seen that Kariņš's New Unity wants to do everything possible to postpone the elections. The other parties do not yet understand what to do. The ratings for these parties are bad. Riga's emergency elections were adjusted to the ratings, and it is probably planned to do the same now. But now it will not really matter whether they take place in the summer or in the autumn - in many places there will be no support for these parties. There may be support only for some local leaders whose activities the voters do not associate with the activities of the government.

The Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns (New Conservative Party, Jaunā konservatīvā partija, JKP) has sharply criticized a Vidzeme district judge for an acquittal. Do you agree that Uģis Magonis and Oļegs Osinovskis had to be convicted?

Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to find polite Latvian words to briefly describe what Bordāns has done.

In my opinion, the public already sees who Bordāns is.

But there is a fairly large part of society that sees it in a different light - the "good" Bordāns is fighting for justice.

Bordāns has little interest in the existence of laws, the principle of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary. He puts brutal, blatantly public pressure on the judge. In a state governed by the rule of law, this is unacceptable.

Recently, it was the case that Bordāns went after one bailiff - Rolands Veinbergs - without the slightest delay, but it turns out that there is one bailiff - Aiga Augustova, where the disciplinary case has been delayed…

This is because she is linked to the JKP, but the former one is not.