There are no other components, institutions or organizations of state power that are less popular in the eyes of the Latvian population than political parties. However, when politicians take up new positions, they find themselves climbing higher in the rankings than where they came from. Force structures and the judiciary are by no means the worst environment for a professional or political career. However, some manage to waste even this advance of positive attitude.
The only force structure with a negative rating at the end of last year is the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB). It can be seen in the annual SKDS survey commissioned by Neatkarīgā: "Trust in institutions, evaluation of the activities of politicians and sources of information used." The other justice, home affairs, and defense agencies surveyed are doing much better.
Traditionally, the second most positively rated institution in the country is the National Armed Forces, which is behind only educational institutions. Looking back at history, the army had a negative rating in the late 1990s, but in this millennium it enjoys a stable positive rating.
Subtracting the proportion of negative ratings from positive ones shows the following picture. In 1997, the NAF rating was -30.9, at the end of last year it was +38.4.
This could be considered an excellent result compared to, for example, the last place in the rating of institutions, which is occupied by political parties with -67 points. However, in comparison with the indicators of previous years, where the number of points exceeded 45, it must be concluded that the popularity of the army has started to decline during the last year. What happened? This is probably due to the personality of the Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks, as the army and the ministry work very closely. Former Minister Raimonds Bergmanis was more acceptable to the Russian public. Pabriks' assessment in the Latvian and Russian audience differs significantly. 39.7% of the surveyed Latvians and only 15.3% of Russians evaluate his activity positively.
The next of the force structures to show a fairly respectable level of trust is the police. 59.7% of Latvians trust it, 31.1% do not. So 28.6 points in the rating table, which indicates a slight increase. It should be recalled that the survey was conducted in December last year, i.e., after the appointment of the new police chief Armands Ruks. For nine months, the police had no chief at all, so apparently, the people have given Ruks a positive handicap. As for the Minister of the Interior Sandis Ģirģens, who appointed Ruks, he is the most popular or, to be more precise, the least unpopular minister in the government of Krišjānis Kariņš with a rating of -0.3. The prime minister himself has only -17.1.
The remaining three force structures included in the SKDS study - the prosecutor's office, the courts, and the KNAB - lag far behind the army and police. 47.4% of respondents trust the prosecutor's office, 36.5% do not. In total, 10.9 points are added to the rating table. This is an increase of five points during the year and is most likely due to the positive assessment of the new Prosecutor General Juris Stukāns. Even when he was a judge, he purposefully formed his public image, and it is now paying off. Only 11% negative ratings.
Trust in the courts has also risen from 3.4 to 8.3 points over the past year. And the courts also have a new chief, namely the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Aigars Strupišs. The rating of the Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns, like all other colleagues in the Cabinet, is negative, but in general it is not the worst of them: -10.1.
Among the force structures, the lowest trust indicator is -0.6 for the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau. However, in the three years since the office has been headed by Jēkabs Straume, the assessment of the population has significantly improved. In 2016, it had even dropped to -28.4 points. This is because the management of the previous office washed their dirty linen professionally rather than catch the corrupt. With the arrival of Straume, at least there have been fewer scandals in this institution, and the Department of the Interior no longer has to experience the shame of their public officials quarreling.