Politicians' scandals before elections: will they sway voters?
Shortly before the elections, several political parties have been hit by scandals that led to two people being expelled from their parties — yet both remain on the ballot. Political scientists are debating whether this will affect the election outcome.
Just ahead of the upcoming elections, several political parties have been rocked by scandals, with at least two cases resulting in the expulsion of individuals from their party ranks. Despite this, neither of them has been removed from the electoral lists — both continue to run as candidates.
One of the cases involves Reinis Uzulnieks, who lost his post as welfare minister after being caught driving while heavily intoxicated. Following the incident, he was expelled from the Latvian Farmers' Union/Greens (ZZS). Uzulnieks himself has confirmed that if elected to the Saeima, he does not intend to give up his seat as a member of parliament.
Political scientists weigh in
On the program "Spried ar Delfi," political scientist Jānis Ikstens, a professor at the University of Latvia's Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, commented on the situation. Responding to Uzulnieks' stated intention to continue his political career, Ikstens rhetorically asked how the situation would be judged if the person in question had 200,000 euros in loan obligations.
Meanwhile, political scientist Lelde Metla-Rozentāle, program director at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Riga Stradiņš University, described the situation as reflecting "different moral standards" — implicitly pointing to a gap between generally accepted social norms and how some politicians behave once a scandal breaks.
At the heart of the discussion is whether such cases — expulsion from a party while still running in the election — will influence voters' decisions in the upcoming vote, or whether society no longer views such incidents as an obstacle to a political career.
