Prime Minister: Lawmakers' Compensation System to Be Replaced With a Simpler Solution

Latvia's head of government has said the system of expense compensation for Saeima (parliament) members is to be replaced with a simpler mechanism. According to the prime minister, the current arrangement is bureaucratic, creates an unnecessary administrative burden, and has in some cases been used in bad faith.

The plan is to remove the issue from the Saeima's rules of procedure, the document governing the parliament's work, and to address it in the law on remuneration of officials and employees of state and local government institutions. As Kulbergs put it, the aim is a simple mechanism for covering lawmakers' expenses, especially for those who live far from Riga on a daily basis.

What the amendments provide

Saeima members have previously backed in the first reading amendments that delete the provision on expense compensation from the rules of procedure. The bill is being considered as urgent. The explanatory note says compensation matters will in future be regulated by the remuneration law, creating a uniform and systematic legal framework. It stresses that the changes do not set new compensation amounts or eligibility conditions, but change the legal act in which they are regulated.

The bill also clarifies how Saeima Presidium members and other officials are elected. If only one candidate is nominated, no ballot-paper vote will be held. If candidates outnumber the available posts, the candidate with the most votes will be elected, provided they have at least an absolute majority of the deputies present.

The committee asked for the bill to be put on the agenda of the 15 October Saeima sitting and examined in the first reading without repeat review in the responsible committee. Committee chair Andrejs Judins (New Unity) said the bill was drafted at the committee's sittings on 13 and 14 October, attended by representatives of the Saeima Legal Bureau, the Ministry of Justice and the State Chancellery.

Background

The issue has come into focus after reports about a housing rent compensation paid to deputy Leila Rasima (P). The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has launched a departmental check into whether it was justified. The bureau has previously said the current rules contain gaps that could allow the system to be abused.