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Aug. 7th, 2018 | 09:06 am
Following the October 1995 parliamentary elections, nonparty businessman and former agriculture minister Andris Skele was chosen to lead a tenuous six-party coalition government in December. The year 1997 was marked by continual government instability, with Skele surrendering the premiership to Guntars Krasts of the right-wing nationalist Fatherland and Freedom Party in July-August.
In the October 1998 parliamentary elections, Skele’s newly created People’s Party received the most votes, capturing 24 seats. However, Skele remained unpopular among many political forces for his authoritarian and abrasive style. The People’s Party and Vilis Kristopans’ Latvia’s Way, although similar in political orientation, found their leadership at odds over personality conflicts and various business interests. After nearly two months of negotiations, parliament finally approved a new 46-seat minority government led by Kristopans and consisting of the center-right Latvia’s Way, Fatherland and Freedom, and the center-left New Party, along with the tacit support of the left-wing Alliance of Social Democrats. The People’s Party was excluded from the ruling coalition, which most observers predicted would not survive for long because of the ideological diversity of its members and its minority status in parliament.
On June 17, 1999, Latvian-Canadian academic and virtual political unknown Vaira Vike-Freiberga was elected by parliament as the country’s first female president. Vike-Freiberga had no formal party affiliation but was supported by the People’s Party, Fatherland and Freedom, and the Social Democrats. Incumbent President Guntis Ulmanis, who had served as head of state since 1993, was prevented by law from seeking a third term.
After only nine months in office, Prime Minister Kristopans stepped down on July 5, 1999, precipitating the collapse of his minority coalition government. His resignation followed the signing of a cooperation agreement two days earlier between coalition partner Fatherland and Freedom and the People’s Party. Kristopan’s brief term had been plagued by various policy defeats and political crises, culminating in the virtual isolation of the prime minister’s party in its opposition to Vike-Freiberga’s candidacy for president. Latvia’s Way, the People’s Party, and Fatherland and Freedom put aside enough of their differences to agree to form a new 62-seat majority coalition led by Kristopan’s rival, Andris Skele, as prime minister.
A political firestorm erupted in February 2000 when Social Democrat member of parliament Janis Adamsons, the head of a parliamentary commission investigating a pedophilia case, announced that Prime Minister Skele, Justice Minister Valdis Birkavs, and State Revenue Service Director Andrejs Sonciks were linked to the scandal. The three officials, all of whom vigorously denied any involvement, were cleared of charges in August after prosecutors found no evidence to support the accusations.
Following months of growing strains within the ruling coalition over privatization issues and personality conflicts, Prime Minister Skele stepped down on April 12 after the collapse of his government. In early April, Economics Minister Vladmirs Makarovs, a member of Fatherland and Freedom, revoked the signatory rights of privatization agency head and Latvia’s Way member Janis Naglis; the two had clashed over matters including the setting of sale prices for state firms to be privatized. Skele responded by firing Makarovs and reappointing his long-time ally Naglis as head of the privatization agency, prompting Fatherland and Freedom to withdraw its support of Skele’s leadership. The following day, Latvia’s Way also pulled out of the coalition, citing the inability of the government to continue under its current leadership. On May 5, Riga mayor Andris Berzins of Latvia’s Way was chosen prime minister. While the new government, which included the previous coalition’s three parties along with the small New Party, increased its majority in parliament from 61 to 70 seats, the future stability of the ruling coalition remains in question.
Russian-Latvian relations remained tense during the year, with Moscow continuing to accuse Riga of discriminating against the country’s nearly 700,000 Russian speakers. The Russian government criticized the war crimes trials of former Soviet partisan leader Vasily Kononov and former Soviet security official Yevgeny Savenko as persecution of opponents of fascism.
In late 2000, the government approved new regulations to the country’s often controversial language law stipulating the level of Latvian required for employees in certain private sector jobs. Among the professions covered under one of the regulation’s six language categories are lawyers, certain medical personnel, telephone operators, and taxi drivers. Some human rights campaigners and politicians expressed concern over the selection of language categories for certain professions and the potential for problems in enforcement by state language inspectors.
Latvia’s economy, which fell into recession throughout most of 1999 after the 1998 Russian financial crisis, showed increasing signs of recovery in 2000. However, the privatization of the few remaining large state enterprises, including Latvian Shipping Company and the oil shipping firm Ventspils Nafta, continued to be delayed as politicians sought to protect their vested interests in certain sectors of the economy. In August, parliament approved a bill removing the power utility Latvenergo from the country’s privatization list. The decision came after more than 300,000 voter signatures were collected in support of state control of the energy company.
In the October 1998 parliamentary elections, Skele’s newly created People’s Party received the most votes, capturing 24 seats. However, Skele remained unpopular among many political forces for his authoritarian and abrasive style. The People’s Party and Vilis Kristopans’ Latvia’s Way, although similar in political orientation, found their leadership at odds over personality conflicts and various business interests. After nearly two months of negotiations, parliament finally approved a new 46-seat minority government led by Kristopans and consisting of the center-right Latvia’s Way, Fatherland and Freedom, and the center-left New Party, along with the tacit support of the left-wing Alliance of Social Democrats. The People’s Party was excluded from the ruling coalition, which most observers predicted would not survive for long because of the ideological diversity of its members and its minority status in parliament.
On June 17, 1999, Latvian-Canadian academic and virtual political unknown Vaira Vike-Freiberga was elected by parliament as the country’s first female president. Vike-Freiberga had no formal party affiliation but was supported by the People’s Party, Fatherland and Freedom, and the Social Democrats. Incumbent President Guntis Ulmanis, who had served as head of state since 1993, was prevented by law from seeking a third term.
After only nine months in office, Prime Minister Kristopans stepped down on July 5, 1999, precipitating the collapse of his minority coalition government. His resignation followed the signing of a cooperation agreement two days earlier between coalition partner Fatherland and Freedom and the People’s Party. Kristopan’s brief term had been plagued by various policy defeats and political crises, culminating in the virtual isolation of the prime minister’s party in its opposition to Vike-Freiberga’s candidacy for president. Latvia’s Way, the People’s Party, and Fatherland and Freedom put aside enough of their differences to agree to form a new 62-seat majority coalition led by Kristopan’s rival, Andris Skele, as prime minister.
A political firestorm erupted in February 2000 when Social Democrat member of parliament Janis Adamsons, the head of a parliamentary commission investigating a pedophilia case, announced that Prime Minister Skele, Justice Minister Valdis Birkavs, and State Revenue Service Director Andrejs Sonciks were linked to the scandal. The three officials, all of whom vigorously denied any involvement, were cleared of charges in August after prosecutors found no evidence to support the accusations.
Following months of growing strains within the ruling coalition over privatization issues and personality conflicts, Prime Minister Skele stepped down on April 12 after the collapse of his government. In early April, Economics Minister Vladmirs Makarovs, a member of Fatherland and Freedom, revoked the signatory rights of privatization agency head and Latvia’s Way member Janis Naglis; the two had clashed over matters including the setting of sale prices for state firms to be privatized. Skele responded by firing Makarovs and reappointing his long-time ally Naglis as head of the privatization agency, prompting Fatherland and Freedom to withdraw its support of Skele’s leadership. The following day, Latvia’s Way also pulled out of the coalition, citing the inability of the government to continue under its current leadership. On May 5, Riga mayor Andris Berzins of Latvia’s Way was chosen prime minister. While the new government, which included the previous coalition’s three parties along with the small New Party, increased its majority in parliament from 61 to 70 seats, the future stability of the ruling coalition remains in question.
Russian-Latvian relations remained tense during the year, with Moscow continuing to accuse Riga of discriminating against the country’s nearly 700,000 Russian speakers. The Russian government criticized the war crimes trials of former Soviet partisan leader Vasily Kononov and former Soviet security official Yevgeny Savenko as persecution of opponents of fascism.
In late 2000, the government approved new regulations to the country’s often controversial language law stipulating the level of Latvian required for employees in certain private sector jobs. Among the professions covered under one of the regulation’s six language categories are lawyers, certain medical personnel, telephone operators, and taxi drivers. Some human rights campaigners and politicians expressed concern over the selection of language categories for certain professions and the potential for problems in enforcement by state language inspectors.
Latvia’s economy, which fell into recession throughout most of 1999 after the 1998 Russian financial crisis, showed increasing signs of recovery in 2000. However, the privatization of the few remaining large state enterprises, including Latvian Shipping Company and the oil shipping firm Ventspils Nafta, continued to be delayed as politicians sought to protect their vested interests in certain sectors of the economy. In August, parliament approved a bill removing the power utility Latvenergo from the country’s privatization list. The decision came after more than 300,000 voter signatures were collected in support of state control of the energy company.