Regional journalists: lawmakers vanish after elections, return only before the next vote

A discussion organized by the newspaper "Latvijas Avīze" brought together editors and journalists from several regional newspapers, along with civically active residents from the Alūksne, Aizkraukle, Bebri parish, Jelgava, Gulbene, Valka, Smiltene and Bauska municipalities. The conversation focused on whether Saeima members maintain contact with the regions that elected them between election cycles.

Lawmakers rarely seen in the regions

Several participants said public meetings with MPs during the inter-election period have been rare or non-existent. A representative from the Valka and Smiltene municipalities noted that lawmakers mainly appear once they become ministers or when a contentious issue arises. Representatives from Jelgava, Gulbene and Bauska echoed this, saying meetings with residents are not organized on the MPs' own initiative, and school events only happen when students themselves extend an invitation.

Electoral district concerns

A resident of the Smiltene municipality argued that the administrative-territorial reform should have been accompanied by changes to the election law, narrowing electoral districts to match municipal boundaries — this would let residents better know their representatives and meet with them more regularly.

Pre-election activity

Participants noted that activity increases before elections — Aizkraukle reportedly has an unusually high number of candidate posters, which local residents felt was excessive. Several said that after meeting candidates and hearing promises, concrete solutions often fail to follow. A young representative from Bauska described a mock vote organized at her school, where many students lacked basic knowledge about how elections work.