All About Latvia

It is a sad day for Latvian people.

This morning, with 58 votes, Saeima voted for the Anointed Valdis Zatlers, MD, to become the next Latvian president. Since early morning outside the parliament building in the Old Town two camps chanted names of their favorites, which at one point transformed into a shouting match, as if whoever shouts the loudest wins.

The Zatlers crowd held favorable portraits of their candidate. I was surprised they found any. Dressed in medical uniforms, young men and women shouted “Zatlers, Zatlers,” often encouraged by a man with a man-purse, who looked like he was in charge. I wouldn’t be surprised if some in the Zatlers crowd belonged to a Rent-A-Crowd company. Nowadays, democratic opposition can be bought.

On the other side of the street, people of various ages wore T-shirts, that read Aivars Endzins - People’s President. They chanted Endzins for President, Zatlers for Doctor. A few people stood around listening to the parliamentary proceedings on the radio.

The police separated the two camps, which mostly behaved very peacefully. The police gave way to tourists and other passers by.

The shouting match between the two camps suggested a need to reform the system where the President is elected by the Parliament alone. This is the first time in Latvia’s history two presidential candidates met for public debates. This is the first time in Latvia’s history supporters of two candidates gathered near the parliament to make their voices heard.

And this is the first time in my recent memory, the Parliament voted in a person opposed by so many organizations.

Cynical Latvian public already views democratic processes and the ruling gang with great suspicion. Politicians can be bought and most of them are, people say. Political elite in this small Baltic state ostracizes the people they’re supposed to serve farther and farther. Both notions supported by the farce of a presidential campaign and the results of the presidential election.

According to polls, most people wanted to see Endzins as their president, yet the ruling coalition pushed for its own candidate. People wanted to see Endzins because Zatlers at this point appears to be nothing else but a marionette in hands of oligarchs.

The election of Zatlers, a doctor with practically no political experience, signifies the tighter hold on power by what some editorials call “a gang that rules our country,” or the coalition government, and, the continued sale of Latvia’s independence to foreign entities in particular to our immediate East.

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Opponents of gay pride parade often use declining demographic numbers as an argument against legalization of gay marriage, or a same-sex union before the state. The angry mob held religious icons, sprinkled holy water in front of the Hotel Latvia last year where gay and lesbians gathered for a conference.

Somewhere beneath the anti-gay sentiment and anger lay the real problems. For example, if it hadn’t been for abortions performed in this country, the birth rate would have surpassed the death rate in 2003.

In 2004 in Latvia the rate of induced abortions per 1000 live births has decreased by 28 percent, comparing to 1999 and by 2.5 percent comparing to 2003. In 2004, there were 674 induced
abortions per 1000 live births. Similar trend can be observed in Lithuania and Estonia. However, in Baltic States the number of induced abortions is high comparing to other European countries. For example, in 2003 in Sweden there were 347 induced
abortions per 1000 live births, in Finland – 189. In these countries the rate of induced abortions has not changed during the last years.

Although, a ban on abortion isn’t going to increase the birth rate, I suspect creating favorable economic conditions for mothers and family would.

The life expectancy — the lowest in the EU — is only the tip of the iceberg.

Following the demise of the Soviet Union, Latvia has become one of the major hubs for child trafficking, sex slaves, and prostitution.

Of all social ills that affect Latvia today, anger over celebration of consensual homosexual relationships seem misdirected.

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This made me chuckle.

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Latvian Chapter of Transparency International, which is known as Delna here in Latvia, translated an interview with the anointed presidential candidate Valdis Zatlers. The interview was published in a daily Diena this week. Nominated as a single candidate from a four-party ruling coalition, Zatlers M.D., as it was reported, admitted to taking money in envelopes from patients as a gesture of gratitude. He doesn’t seem to feel bad about it, nor does he even remember how much money he had taken.

What message would we be sending to the world if we elect the president a person who had admitted to accepting cash from his patients.

During a live public-affairs show on Latvian TV earlier this week, Zatlers received the least number of votes as a result of a phone survey. He came across as ignorant in the simple matters of the state, particularly when he said he didn’t know and didn’t want to know the oligarchs, even though the President recently said she was afraid oligarchs have been getting more power in the country.

But the interview speaks volumes about the Anointed Doctor.

The Parliament is scheduled to vote for the next president on Thursday. Chances are it’s going to be the first round of election. Delna is organizing a picket that day near the Parliament to encourage the MPs to vote for the former Constitutional Court judge Aigars Endzins as the next president of Latvia.

I plan to go there.

Pictured is Valdis Zatlers with a nameless bunny. Photo was taken from Zatlers.blogspot.com, a site created by an independent group of people opposing the election of Zatlers as the next president of Latvia.

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