Jūrmala's new mayor Romualdas Ražukas was born in Vilnius and moved to Latvia in the mid-1980s. Photo by Toms Grīnbergs Avots/University of Latvia
JŪRMALA, Latvia — In light of accusations of bribery, Jūrmala’s mayor was suspended from office Thursday and a Lithuanian-born man was voted in by the city council as his replacement.
The council voted to boot Raimonds Munkevics from the post 15-1, while Romualdas Ražukas, born in Vilnius in 1955, was elected to the post 11-2. Police suspect Munkevics attempted to bribe council members ahead a no-confidence vote he was projected to lose, as eight members of the 15-seat city council had signed a petition to remove Munkevics from office. Munkevics says he is innocent, and he has not been formally charged yet.
Ražukas, a neurosurgeon before entering politics, has lived in Latvia since the mid-1980s where he participated in the pro-democracy movement there. In addition to his native Lithuanian he speaks English, Russian and Latvian and now usually uses the Latvian version of his name, Romualds Ražuks. He is a member of the Civic Union Party.
2 lats toll to be cut
Ražukas said he will reverse the automobile entry fee of 2 lats, increased under Munkevics, back down to 1 lats and instead increase parking fees.
“Let it be one lats,” Ražukas said in a press conference Thursday. “Objections to the entry fee are extremely high.”
The fee, which increased January 1, could be cut as soon as July 1.
Two-thirds majority in the future?
In Latvia mayors are elected by the city council rather than the citizenry, and in light of the Munkevics scandal several municipal and Ministry of the Interior officials have told the press that they are considering increasing the amount of council votes needed to two-thirds rather than a simple majority.
This is not the first time the Jūrmala city council has been embroiled in a bribery scandal — in 2006 the “Jūrmalgeitas” scandal cost Ainārs Šlesers his transport minister post and also involved former Prime Minister Andris Šķēle and businessman Germans Milušs in the bribery of city council members in exchange for supporting the mayoral candidacy of Juris Hlevickis, a Latvia’s First Party member.
Ironically, Šlesers, now the deputy mayor of Riga, is one of the municipal officials supporting the two-third majority increase.
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