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CORRUPTION AS GAME CHANGER: Lessons Learned and Context to the Riga City Council Snap Elections CORRUPTION and DEFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

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CORRUPTION AS GAME CHANGER: Lessons Learned and Context to the Riga City Council Snap Elections CORRUPTION and DEFECTIVE LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE The dismissal of Riga city coun- cil was caused to a large extent DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS by corruption scandals and triggered snap elections in late August 2020. Because of the capital city’s economic weight and population share, the re- CORRUPTION sults of these elections are of pivotal importance, coming two years before the next na- AS GAME tional parliamentary elections. CHANGER: The passive stance of the social democratic Harmony party (Saskaņa) and the actions of lessons learned and context political leaders are likely to have been more important to the Riga city council snap elections than the party programme in affecting the results of the elec- tions. Jānis Ikstens Riga, November 2020 The results constitute a land- slide victory for challenger po- litical forces. The reasons can be traced not only to public dissatisfaction with corruption, but also to the broader politi- cal party landscape. DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS CORRUPTION AS GAME CHANGER: lessons learned and context to the Riga city council snap elections CORRUPTION AND DEFECTIVE LEADERSHIP Riga, with its more than 600,000 inhabitants, is not only Lat- utive unanimously confi rmed Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis as par- via’s largest city and capital, but also the country’s economic ty leader in the European Parliament (EP) elections scheduled and political powerhouse. Since 2009 the Saskaņa has gov- for May 2019. This was a week before the search conducted erned the city continuously – in various constellations – fi nd- in Nils Ušakovs’ home and offi ce, but decisions had already ing its support largely among the East Slavic portion of the been made at the end of February on cooperation between voters. Saskaņa and GKR in the European Parliamentary elections and the inclusion of Nils Ušakovs and his deputy Andris CORRUPTION AND DEFECTIVE LEADER- Ameriks in the list of candidates. Although Ušakovs denied SHIP that the criminal investigation had led to the sudden decision to participate in European elections, political commentators The extraordinary elections called for Riga city council were linked it to MEPs’ immunity from criminal persecution in the outcome of a number of political processes. For several Latvia. years the media had been reporting suspicious or even crim- inal deals involving Riga’s municipal companies (including An additional factor was an order signed by Minister of the payments made by Riga minibus service providers to the Lat- Environment and Regional Development Juris Pūce (of the vian United Labour Union, the purchase of so-called ‘nano- left-liberal party Attīstībai/Par!, A/P) that dismissed Nils Ušak- technological water’ by the Riga public transport company ovs from the position of Riga mayor on the grounds that the Rīgas satiksme, seemingly fi ctitious employment in the city- mayor had been guilty of negligence and legal violations owned housing company Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks, bribery since 2017.1 This allowed GKR to obtain formal control over in Riga’s Central Market and the use of Riga city funds for the Riga mayoralty. First, Oļegs Burovs became acting chair political purposes). The council leaders tried to distance of Riga city council, then Dainis Turlais was elected the new themselves from these deals and criminal investigations did mayor of Riga. When Turlais lost his position in June, howev- not make much progress, which in turn undermined public er, Burovs again became acting mayor. In August 2019 Riga trust in the functioning of Riga’s city agencies. city council elected him mayor proper. Arguably, the biggest corruption scandal in Riga in the past Ušakovs’ election to the European Parliament and subse- few years was provoked by the arrest in December 2018 of quent distancing from Riga city council had a serious impact Leons Bemhens, manager of the city transport company Rī- on the council’s ability to function. As the Saskaņa and GKR gas satiksme, as well as of several other company employees coalition grew weaker, four Saskaņa members split from and the infl uential businessman Māris Martinsons. They were their faction and established a new political group, with a suspected of bribing offi cials and money laundering between number of political demands. As a result, the coalition lost a 2013 and 2016. The difference between these criminal pro- stable majority in the council, raising the prospect of extraor- ceedings and previous scandals was not only the internation- dinary elections. Although for several months the former ma- al scope of the deals – the bribery concerned the purchase of jority coalition on Riga city council was able to agree on fur- buses and trolleybuses from the Polish company Solaris Bus & ther activities, in autumn 2019 this situation came to an end. Coach, which cooperated with the investigation in Poland (the Polish anti-corruption service the CBA was also involved) The issue of waste management in Riga had been important – but also the fact that the investigation included a search of since late 2018. Under Nils Ušakovs, Riga city council had the offi ce and home of Riga city mayor Nils Ušakovs. This decided to outsource waste management to the joint stock indirectly confi rmed the information put out by the Corrup- company Tīrīga, establishing a monopoly, which enabled the tion Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) and dissemi- company to raise waste collection tariffs in the city by ap- nated by the news agency LETA that a group of individuals proximately 40 per cent. Although the Ministry of the Envi- had facilitated the bribery of responsible offi cials of the Riga ronment and Regional Development did not object to this, City Council and Rīgas satiksme in relation to three procure- the Competition Council presented an obstacle, demanding ment tenders. that the city submit a plan for compliance with competition regulations in the unsorted and split household waste collec- These criminal proceedings led to fundamental changes in tion and transportation sectors. This dispute between the Riga city council. Riga city deputy mayor Andris Ameriks (of city and the competition authorities threatened city waste the party ‘Honoured to Serve Riga’ – Gods Kalpot Rīgai, collection. As a result, on 11 September 2019, the Cabinet of GKR) resigned from offi ce a few days after KNAB’s arrests. In Ministers decided to declare an emergency in Riga to solve his resignation statement on 17 December 2018, he empha- the waste crisis, which had developed in parallel with the sised that, although he was not involved in the abuses at Rī- coalition confl icts in the city council. From this juncture the gas satiksme, he was resigning in order to reduce the dam- idea of an extraordinary municipal election in Riga was ex- age to his own reputation and that of his party. The day after pressed more and more frequently. Ameriks’ resignation, Oļegs Burovs (GKR) was elected deputy chair of Riga city council. 1 Ušakovs interpreted this action as political revenge and appealed the minister’s order. As of the preparation of this report, the court ruling Signifi cant changes also took place in the social-democratic was against Ušakovs but had not entered into force due to ongoing Saskaņa. In the second half of January 2019, the party exec- appeals. 3 FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG – CORRUPTION AS GAME CHANGER After a new procurement round for waste management ser- no wish to call the election results into question, the repre- vices, the Competition Council was satisfi ed, but the state of sentatives of the Jaunā Saskaņa went to court to demand emergency in Riga had to be prolonged. Expressing dissatis- new elections at the polling stations where the unsealed en- faction with this situation, Minister of the Environment and velopes had been found. The Administrative District Court Regional Development Juris Pūce submitted for government ordered the Central Election Committee to recount the bal- consideration a draft law dismissing the current Riga city lots at the relevant polling stations, including envelopes pre- council and announcing new elections in light of their inabil- viously recognised as invalid in the count. This did not affect ity to perform the organisation of household waste collec- the distribution of mandates between the lists, however. tion, an autonomous function stipulated in the law. The Cab- inet of Ministers supported this proposal despite doubts CANDIDATE LISTS about its legality raised by the State Chancellery. The minis- ters of the populist party KPV LV did not support this propos- Fifteen lists of candidates, making up 707 candidates in total, al as they did not consider the city council unable to perform were submitted for the extraordinary elections. Almost 71 its duties. The Legal Offi ce of the Saeima (parliament) ex- per cent of them were men. The average age of the candi- pressed similar doubts. dates was 45.6 years. Almost 59 per cent of candidates indi- cated that they are Latvians by nationality. However, 28 per The most stable legal basis for the proposed action was cre- cent of candidates refused to indicate their nationality (only ated by the Riga City Council itself, however, which failed to 1.5 percentage points more than in the parliamentary elec- convene council meetings on three consecutive occasions in tions of 2018). Candidates with a higher education made up February 2020. This situation arose after Riga mayor Oļegs more than three-quarters of the total (77.2 per cent), compa- Burovs allegedly agreed such tactics with opposition council rable with the proportion of such candidates at the 2018 members. The legal position was no longer in doubt and on parliamentary elections. 13 February the Saeima decided to announce extraordinary elections for Riga city council. At the same time, this situation Four more lists of candidates were submitted for the extraor- deepened the confl ict between Saskaņa and GKR that had dinary elections than for the 2017 municipal elections and emerged after Nils Ušakovs left the offi ce.
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