On Wednesday, 6 July, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, met with Park Hee Tae, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, who is on an official visit to Latvia from 5 to 7 July. During the meeting, the Latvian Speaker emphasised that this year marks the 20th anniversary since Latvia and South Korea established diplomatic relations and that this high-level visit not only will give a new impetus to closer bilateral relations in economy, culture and education but also will contribute to opening an embassy in Riga.
Press releases
Economic Committee supports strengthening institutional independence of Public Utilities Commission (07.07.2011.)
On Tuesday, 5 July, the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee of the Saeima approved the amendments to the Law on Regulators of Public Utilities, which are aimed at strengthening the independence of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in compliance with the European Union requirements. The Saeima will now consider the relevant draft law in the third reading.
In the first three months since the website www.21augusts.lv was launched, video interviews with the eyewitnesses of the restoration of the de facto independence of Latvia have attracted the greatest number of visitors.
On Thursday, 30 June, while taking part in the high-level women’s leadership conference on Women Enhancing Democracy: Best Practices, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, said in her address: “Differences between genders can be removed only by changing the way of thinking, by changing the social environment and general attitude towards women’s economic, social and political activity.”
Solvita Āboltiņa: Recent parliamentary activities promote openness and accessibility of the Saeima to everyone (22.06.2011.)
“The spring session of the Saeima can be characterised by active and high-quality debates on future development of our state. During this period, the parliament hosted a conference, the NGO forum on Stability, Partnership, Development, as well as the Youth Parliament. Participants of these events addressed issues concerning priorities in planning national development, improvement of the demographic situation, the role of education and research in the national economy, as well as other issues significant for our state and our people. These activities facilitated accessibility and openness of the Latvian parliament to our inhabitants,” indicated Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima.
Legal Affairs Committee supports introducing criminal liability for illegal financing of political parties (22.06.2011.)
On Tuesday, 21 June, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Saeima expressed conceptual support for amendments to the Criminal Law that set forth criminal liability for illegal financing of political parties and for accepting illegal contributions. Members of the Committee unanimously supported further processing of the draft law.
On Thursday, 16 June, the Saeima adopted amendments to several laws aimed at restricting employment of illegal immigrants.
Saeima supports reduction of pre-election expenses before extraordinary general election (17.06.2011.)
On Thursday, 16 June, the Saeima adopted amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Organisations (Parties) in the final reading as urgent; the amendments reduced the ceiling for party expenses before an extraordinary election of the Saeima.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia:
On Tuesday, 14 June, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, took part in the opening of the conference Remembering 14 June 1941. In her address, Āboltiņa pointed out: “Our duty is to never forget those tragic events in the lives of our people and to recall the injustice that was done to them.”