RIGA — A new political movement For a Good Latvia, dominated by entrepreneurs is holding its founding congress Monday, with its ultimate goal to increase the pro-business slant in the next government.

“Par labu Latviju,” whose figurehead is the well-known and widely respected Lido founder and chief executive Gunārs Ķirsons, will add to the growing multitude of traditionally apolitical Latvians vowing to bring about change after the national elections in October. Members include numerous businesspeople and several politicians such as [private_supervisor]Ogre City Council Chairman Edvīns Bartkevičs, will also participate in the movement.

For a Good Latvia has been busy over the past couple months, and reports have already appeared that the People’s Party and Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way union, two pro-business parties struggling with sub-par approval ratings, are considering joining forces with the movement.

According to founders’ statements, For a Good Latvia hopes to unite a broad swath of society in order to rescue the country from its current morass. As the movement’s website declares, “The words ‘I’m ashamed to be a Latvian’ and ‘I love this land but I hate the government’ have poisoned the nation’s consciousness … we have come to make Latvia better.”

The movement, which plans to transform itself into a political union in June after two months of road-shows throughout the country, has already sparked controversy. Ieva Plaude-Rēlingere, owner-manager of the Kolonna holding, said in a recent radio interview that she supports granting citizenship to all Latvia’s non-citizens. Naturally, this sparked a firestorm of vituperative reaction in nationalist circles and waves of applause from ethnic Russian segments of Latvian society.

Although Plaude-Rēlingere’s idea would never see the light of day, her unexpected statement seems to be a harbinger of these to come in pre-election Latvia, where dozens of neophytes have jumped into the ring.

Philosophically, there are mixed — and passionately so — opinions about the business elite’s political ambitions. On the one hand, Latvia needs to create a more conducive environment for business, not least of all to attract foreign investment, but on the other, one could argue that the country’s current woes stem primarily from the fact that lawmakers during the “fat years” too often made vital decisions based on their narrow business interests, and not the country’s.

Sarmīte Ēlerte, the former editor-in-chief of the Diena daily, stressed this point during a debate with Ķirsons last week on the “What’s Happening in Latvia?” television program.

Ķirsons has not concealed his movement’s intentions to wed business and politics, i.e. to use business to influence political decision-marking, which Ēlerte argued is a dangerous alternative, calling it an element of a typical mafia-state.

Ēlerte recently helped established another political movement, The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, which has aligned itself with the Unity union of Latvian parties that, along with the center-left Harmony Center, currently has the best chances of winning the October parliamentary election. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]Ogre City Council Chairman Edvīns Bartkevičs, will also participate in the movement.

For a Good Latvia has been busy over the past couple months, and reports have already appeared that the People’s Party and Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way union, two pro-business parties struggling with sub-par approval ratings, are considering joining forces with the movement.

According to founders’ statements, For a Good Latvia hopes to unite a broad swath of society in order to rescue the country from its current morass. As the movement’s website declares, “The words ‘I’m ashamed to be a Latvian’ and ‘I love this land but I hate the government’ have poisoned the nation’s consciousness … we have come to make Latvia better.”

The movement, which plans to transform itself into a political union in June after two months of road-shows throughout the country, has already sparked controversy. Ieva Plaude-Rēlingere, owner-manager of the Kolonna holding, said in a recent radio interview that she supports granting citizenship to all Latvia’s non-citizens. Naturally, this sparked a firestorm of vituperative reaction in nationalist circles and waves of applause from ethnic Russian segments of Latvian society.

Although Plaude-Rēlingere’s idea would never see the light of day, her unexpected statement seems to be a harbinger of these to come in pre-election Latvia, where dozens of neophytes have jumped into the ring.

Philosophically, there are mixed — and passionately so — opinions about the business elite’s political ambitions. On the one hand, Latvia needs to create a more conducive environment for business, not least of all to attract foreign investment, but on the other, one could argue that the country’s current woes stem primarily from the fact that lawmakers during the “fat years” too often made vital decisions based on their narrow business interests, and not the country’s.

Sarmīte Ēlerte, the former editor-in-chief of the Diena daily, stressed this point during a debate with Ķirsons last week on the “What’s Happening in Latvia?” television program.

Ķirsons has not concealed his movement’s intentions to wed business and politics, i.e. to use business to influence political decision-marking, which Ēlerte argued is a dangerous alternative, calling it an element of a typical mafia-state.

Ēlerte recently helped established another political movement, The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, which has aligned itself with the Unity union of Latvian parties that, along with the center-left Harmony Center, currently has the best chances of winning the October parliamentary election. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]Ogre City Council Chairman Edvīns Bartkevičs, will also participate in the movement.

For a Good Latvia has been busy over the past couple months, and reports have already appeared that the People’s Party and Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way union, two pro-business parties struggling with sub-par approval ratings, are considering joining forces with the movement.

According to founders’ statements, For a Good Latvia hopes to unite a broad swath of society in order to rescue the country from its current morass. As the movement’s website declares, “The words ‘I’m ashamed to be a Latvian’ and ‘I love this land but I hate the government’ have poisoned the nation’s consciousness … we have come to make Latvia better.”

The movement, which plans to transform itself into a political union in June after two months of road-shows throughout the country, has already sparked controversy. Ieva Plaude-Rēlingere, owner-manager of the Kolonna holding, said in a recent radio interview that she supports granting citizenship to all Latvia’s non-citizens. Naturally, this sparked a firestorm of vituperative reaction in nationalist circles and waves of applause from ethnic Russian segments of Latvian society.

Although Plaude-Rēlingere’s idea would never see the light of day, her unexpected statement seems to be a harbinger of these to come in pre-election Latvia, where dozens of neophytes have jumped into the ring.

Philosophically, there are mixed — and passionately so — opinions about the business elite’s political ambitions. On the one hand, Latvia needs to create a more conducive environment for business, not least of all to attract foreign investment, but on the other, one could argue that the country’s current woes stem primarily from the fact that lawmakers during the “fat years” too often made vital decisions based on their narrow business interests, and not the country’s.

Sarmīte Ēlerte, the former editor-in-chief of the Diena daily, stressed this point during a debate with Ķirsons last week on the “What’s Happening in Latvia?” television program.

Ķirsons has not concealed his movement’s intentions to wed business and politics, i.e. to use business to influence political decision-marking, which Ēlerte argued is a dangerous alternative, calling it an element of a typical mafia-state.

Ēlerte recently helped established another political movement, The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, which has aligned itself with the Unity union of Latvian parties that, along with the center-left Harmony Center, currently has the best chances of winning the October parliamentary election. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]Ogre City Council Chairman Edvīns Bartkevičs, will also participate in the movement.

For a Good Latvia has been busy over the past couple months, and reports have already appeared that the People’s Party and Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way union, two pro-business parties struggling with sub-par approval ratings, are considering joining forces with the movement.

According to founders’ statements, For a Good Latvia hopes to unite a broad swath of society in order to rescue the country from its current morass. As the movement’s website declares, “The words ‘I’m ashamed to be a Latvian’ and ‘I love this land but I hate the government’ have poisoned the nation’s consciousness … we have come to make Latvia better.”

The movement, which plans to transform itself into a political union in June after two months of road-shows throughout the country, has already sparked controversy. Ieva Plaude-Rēlingere, owner-manager of the Kolonna holding, said in a recent radio interview that she supports granting citizenship to all Latvia’s non-citizens. Naturally, this sparked a firestorm of vituperative reaction in nationalist circles and waves of applause from ethnic Russian segments of Latvian society.

Although Plaude-Rēlingere’s idea would never see the light of day, her unexpected statement seems to be a harbinger of these to come in pre-election Latvia, where dozens of neophytes have jumped into the ring.

Philosophically, there are mixed — and passionately so — opinions about the business elite’s political ambitions. On the one hand, Latvia needs to create a more conducive environment for business, not least of all to attract foreign investment, but on the other, one could argue that the country’s current woes stem primarily from the fact that lawmakers during the “fat years” too often made vital decisions based on their narrow business interests, and not the country’s.

Sarmīte Ēlerte, the former editor-in-chief of the Diena daily, stressed this point during a debate with Ķirsons last week on the “What’s Happening in Latvia?” television program.

Ķirsons has not concealed his movement’s intentions to wed business and politics, i.e. to use business to influence political decision-marking, which Ēlerte argued is a dangerous alternative, calling it an element of a typical mafia-state.

Ēlerte recently helped established another political movement, The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, which has aligned itself with the Unity union of Latvian parties that, along with the center-left Harmony Center, currently has the best chances of winning the October parliamentary election. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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