Plan to cut state funding for parties while easing spending limits
The distribution of state funding among Latvian parties will shift after the Saeima election. The ruling "United List" wants to cut funding by at least 15 percent and ease spending limits, but the anti-corruption bureau KNAB firmly objects.
The way Latvian state budget money is shared among political parties will change significantly after the Saeima (parliament) election. Some parties will lose hundreds of thousands of euros, while others could receive more than a million euros a year. At the same time, the "United List" (Apvienotais saraksts), the alliance represented by the prime minister, is proposing changes to the funding rules themselves.
Proposed funding cut
The "United List" wants state funding for parties to be reduced by at least 15 percent starting next year.
Easing of restrictions
Edgars Tavars, co-chair of the alliance's board, also proposes loosening the restrictions that apply to how parties spend the state money they receive.
Opposition from the anti-corruption bureau
The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), Latvia's anti-corruption authority, categorically opposes lifting these restrictions. The bureau does not support such a step.
The information was reported by the Latvian Television programme "de facto".
