Kulbergs: Public Poll Needed on Istanbul Convention

The fate of the Istanbul Convention should be put to residents, Kulbergs said on Wednesday, 7 October, after meeting President Edgars Rinkēvičs. He represents the United List, which won 41 seats in the 15th Saeima elections.

Kulbergs stressed that voters gave a mandate for change, not for ideological or divisive issues. He noted that, as last year, the United List believes that whether to keep or denounce the convention is a matter for a referendum, so that society can state its position.

Idea of a consultative referendum

Kulbergs also described an idea to hold a consultative referendum on the Swiss model, which would work as a public poll with no legal consequences. In his words, the Saeima could pose the question, receive the public's answer and only then act. He said it must be established what the people of Latvia want.

The President's position

Rinkēvičs reminded journalists that he had earlier urged leaving the decision on denunciation to the next Saeima. He observed that during pre-election debates most political forces did not show readiness to leave the convention immediately. In his view, the issue was "hot" last October and November, but other topics were more pressing during the debates.

The President said he sees no argument for rushing to withdraw, for Latvia to become the first EU member state to do so, or that the issue had affected society as a whole. He assessed it as a political question, but not one to be hurried, and said the next Saeima will consider what to do.

Background

Last year a Saeima majority voted to denounce the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Following Rinkēvičs' intervention, the final decision will be made by the next Saeima. The planned withdrawal prompted wide protests. In a pre-election SKDS poll commissioned by Delfi, 35.6% of respondents supported denunciation, 46.9% said Latvia should remain a party, and 17.5% found it hard to say.