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OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
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DE RUEHRA #0778/01 2911450
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 181450Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4438
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIGA 000778 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV LG
SUBJECT: Kalvitis in trouble: protests and few friends 
 
Ref: RIGA 771 and previous 
 
¶1. Summary: Approximately 3000 people participated in a peaceful, 
 
public protest in front of the Latvian Parliament (Saeima) to 
express their opposition to the current government of Prime Minister 
Aigars Kalvitis and the threatened dismissal of Latvia's 
anti-corruption chief, Aleksejs Loskutovs. The Saeima, expected by 
some to decide October 18 whether to dismiss Loskutovs, delayed 
consideration of the vote to allow a thorough investigation of the 
charges against him. This comes on the heels of the rejection by a 
member of a coalition party of the post of economics minister, 
following allegations of a deal to trade the ministerial post for 
the party's votes against Loskutovs. Weak coalition support for 
Kalvitis in public forums, coupled with allegations of inappropriate 
pressure on Saeima members to ensure the dismissal of Loskutovs 
leaves the Kalvitis government in a precarious state. Kalvitis has 
already vowed to step down if Loskutovs is not dismissed. FM Pabriks 
has publicly broken with the PM over the Loskutovs dismissal and 
Kalvitis is hurrying back from the EU council in Lisbon to deal with 
the situation.  Latvian President Valdis Zatlers expressed his hope 
that parliamentarians would listen to the voice of the people when 
making their decision. End summary. 
 
¶2. Following the cabinet's October 16 dismissal of anti-corruption 
agency (KNAB) chief Loskutovs (reftel), between 3000 and 5000 people 
gathered outside the Saiema in the rain October 18, it what is being 
called the largest march since the restoration of independence. 
Diena, a major daily newspaper, called for the demonstration to 
protest against the situation in Latvia and request Kalvitis' 
resignation.  Many leading members of the media and intelligentsia, 
along with some influential business leaders joined in the call. 
The crowd demanded dissolution of the parliament, trial of People's 
Party founder and former PM Andris Skele, and included shouts of 
"Hands Off Loskutovs." Among the protesters were representatives of 
public organizations, public figures and actors. Organizers of the 
rally said that the government, in trying to oust Loskutovs, had 
overreached. 
 
¶4. Kalvitis continued to stress that the decision to sack Loskutovs 
was taken on the merits, but found few backers.  On October 17, 
Einars Cilinskis, candidate of coalition partner For Fatherland and 
Freedom (TB/LNNK), rejected the post after rumors circulated that he 
received it only after TB/LNNK agreed to support the dismissal of 
Loskutovs in the parliament.  Additionally, coalition Visvaldis 
Lacis (noted for his lack of party discipline) complained to the 
Prosecutor's Office that his party leader informed him two weeks 
ago, while investigations were still ongiong, that there would be a 
parliamentary vote to dismiss Loskutovs and independent action by 
Lacis would not be tolerated.  On a weekly news program October 17, 
Latvia's most influential, coalition ministers said that they voted 
for the dismissal only because they were on Kalvitis' team and they 
felt they had no choice.  They stressed that their vote was only to 
send the decision to parliament and indicated at least some 
willingness to see Loskutovs continue in the job.  On the same show, 
over 12,000 of the 13,000 viewers who called in to a poll, said they 
viewed the cabinet decision as "illegal and undemocratic." 
 
¶5. In addition to the protests, October 18 brought divisions even 
within the PM's own party.  Regional Development minister 
Stokenbergs, already critical of the party for some time, said that 
if he had been in the cabinet meeting (he was at a meeting in 
Spain), he would have opposed the decision to recommend Loskutovs' 
dismissal to Saeima.  FM Pabriks, who had weakly defended the PM on 
tv the night before, now announced that he would appeal to the PM 
and members of their party to reverse the decision.  Pabriks said he 
had "heard the voice of the people." 
 
¶6. With the coalition unsure that it could achieve a majority in 
what would be a secret ballot, the Saeima decided to delay 
consideration of the dismissal of Loskutovs, saying further 
investigation is needed.  The chair of the committee that will 
investigate this said that they would need "several weeks" to 
examine the matter fully. 
 
¶7. President Zatlers urged the Saeima to "correct the mistakes" that 
had been made in the Loskutovs matter.  He also welcomed the protest 
as appropriate actions in a democracy and expressed his hope that 
the governmet would heed the people's message. However, he warned 
that protests can only derive short-term results, and that, 
"Responsible participation of each Latvian citizen...is the only way 
to achieve positive long-term changes." 
 
¶6. Kalvitis has stated that he has no plans to step down now, but is 
ready to resign if the Saeima does not vote to remove Loskutovs. 
"It's hard, but I am strong," stated Kalvitis.  As a result of 
developments, he has canceled his participation in the informal EU 
council meeting in Lisbon and is returning to Latvia to deal with 
the situation here. 
 
¶7. Comment: Fed up with what they perceive as a climate of 
corruption and frustrated by a worsening economic challenges, the 
people of Latvia are sending a strong message to the current 
government; the suspension of Loskutovs was neither legitimate nor 
 
RIGA 00000778  002 OF 002 
 
 
democratic. With the government under fire and Kalvitis cancelling 
international trips to attempt damage control we can expect 
significant political turbulence in coming days.  A number of 
factors mean that the four parties currently in coalition have a 
strong interest in staying together in government, even if they make 
significant changes to the cabinet.  But with several of the 
parties, including the largest People's Party, having internal 
divisions, there are a multitude of possibilities.  The coming days 
and possibly weeks will be very interesting in Latvian politics. 
 
SELDOWITZ