In his letter, President of Latvia praises the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development for drafting the amendments to the Law on Local Governments, which envisage creating parish and town-level community councils with clear and specific mandate. ‘Regional reform should not lead the local residents to believe that their opportunities to influence local government decisions have shrinked and divide between local government and its people has grown. It is the duty of the government to make sure the laws are in place, giving local communities voice and platform for expressing their views, which are then respected by the local governments created as a result of changes initiated by the new Law on Local Governments,’ stresses the President of Latvia. He also indicates that local government bill offers substantial representation of local interests through community council mandate, which should strengthen democratic processes at local level and encourage residents to get more actively involved in democratic and political functioning of local authorities.
On the other hand, President Levits also points out that there is a major conceptual flaw in the offered bill. Current version does not provide local residents the right to choose their representatives in (parish and town) community councils in a direct election. ‘From a democratic and people’s democratic empowerment point of view, community councils and their mandate seems to be very efficient instrument if these councils are elected by local communities in a direct process. Appointment of community councils by municipal councils will not serve the intended purpose well enough. Consultations and public hearings cannot substitute direct democratic legitimacy and democratic representation of local communities in local governments,’ writes President in his letter to Prime Minister.
In his letter, President of Latvia also reminds that according to applicable transitional provisions of the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, Cabinet of Ministers must submit the parliament a bill, which gives local communities the right to directly elect members of their community councils. President of Latvia expects the Cabinet to follow the provisions of the law. In his letter to the Prime Minister, he also insists that it is absolutely vital to provide local communities an opportunity to directly vote for their representatives in the community councils through the new law.