Honourable Prime Minister,
Dear ministers,
I
I am deeply honoured to address the Cabinet members today because Cabinet of Ministersis one of the constitutional institutionsdefined by our constitution, Satversme.There are six such bodies in total: President of Latvia, Saeima, Cabinet of Ministers, Constitutional Court, Supreme Courtand State Audit Office.Our constitution highlightsthese six constitutional bodies because they are indispensable to ourstate. We must have these bodies, and we must sufficiently fund them, as well, to keep our state running. These six constitutional bodies, sometimes also referred to as organs of constitution,represent theRepublic of Latvia directly andcompletely.
I am meeting with all constitutional bodies to highlight their special constitutional role and functions, as well as to enunciatetheso-called principal of institutional loyalty established by the Constitutional Court.According to this principle, these sixconstitutional institutions mustcoordinate their activities in a way that benefits the whole state.Poor or insufficient coordination may lead to a constitutional crisis. Onset of such crisis must be prevented, andstronginstitutional loyalty is the way to ensure that our state keeps running.
II
Let me, therefore, elaborate on the responsibilities of the Cabinet of Ministers in the context of thisconstitutional framework.All six organs have full rights to represent Latvia and act in its interests. However, each of these bodies is responsible for specific functions of the state. With clear understanding of how these functions are divided, constitutional bodies will avoid overstepping their powers and will be able to implement the Satversme accurately.
I will focus on the role of the Cabinet of Ministers and leave president’s, parliament’s, judicial system’s and State Audit Office’sfunctions aside.
Cabinet of Ministers is the executive branch.But there is a distinction between constitutional institutions and separation of power.As you all know, government is typically divided into three branches: a legislature, anexecutive and a judiciary.Cabinet of Ministers is at the helm of the executive branch with other executive bodies.
Cabinet of Ministers runs the civil service, which implements its decisions. Cabinet of Ministers is a political body or political institution, whereas civil service, which consists of government bodies,should bepolitically neutral.Notions of political leadership and non-political functions of government bodies are often creating a lot of confusion and misunderstandings in media and the general public.Cabinet of Ministers makes political decisions, and on very seldom occasions also administrative decisions,whereas the implementation and compliance of such decisions with administrative rules, under control of judiciary,are ensured by the civil service.Executive branch is, therefore, made up of politically motivatedCabinet of Ministersand politically neutral civil service.
III
What are the functions of the executive branch?As stipulated in the Paragraph 58 of Satversme, Cabinet of Ministers together with civil service has a two-fold responsibility.Every-day public administration, which is governed by law, is one. Reforms is the other one.Of course, it is up to political leadership to decide on thebalance between every-day public administration and the reforms.Let me underline that reforms, fortunately or unfortunately, have become an every-day political taskas these reforms need to be constantly adjusted to the changing world.Sometimes these reforms may drain people and then we hear‘enough with reforms, it is done and dusted’. Unfortunately, this goes against the every-day governance needs of a modern, complex state. Constant reforms are unavoidable, otherwise a country will come to a standstill in a matter of years and start falling back, crumbling and declining. We need thosereforms because theyare a demand of the modern-day life. Government,public administration and civil service should constantly be aware of that. Moreover, we can never be sure that the framework clearly established by reforms will work forever.Reforms and restructuring are an on-going process.
Reforms are proposed and implemented by the Cabinet of Ministers because reforms need the political backing.Cabinet of Ministers must, therefore, carefully evaluate the need to implement a reform and launch consultations on the content of a reform at a political level.In fact, if welook into the government agenda of any state, and you can also look into your folders right now, you will find reforms there all the time – something is constantly being introduced and restructured.Without these initiatives there would be only every-day public administration and your agenda would not be concerned with it.
IV
Let me also underline that the civil service is not the only arm of the executive branch governed by the Cabinet of Ministers. There are also various government bodies that have special authorityand are separatedfrom the Cabinet of Ministers. This, of course, does not mean that they are not regulated and work in isolation.Sometimesthey are described as independent bodies, but we all know that in ademocratic system no government agency is entirely independent.There must always be a lever that we can use to influence them.In most cases these special agencies, which are not governed by the Cabinet of Ministers,fall under the laws adopted by the Saeima, and by changing those laws we can also change how these independent agencies work.They are, for example, audited by the State Audit Office, but not under the political influence of the Cabinet of Ministers.Undoubtedly,we must make sure that there are not too many of such independent bodies.
V
Let us now move on to another area of responsibility of the Cabinet of Ministers, which is probably not so evident in people’s perception. I am talking about the so-calledconstitutional‘reserve power’. What is it?Principles of the rule of law imply that ourgovernment, which is ruled by law,follows the legal provisions adopted by the Saeima ordefined by Satversme, or derived from the principles of it.But, as we all know, it so happens in life that there are circumstances that are not regulated by law.We, as every other country, have very nuanced legislation, but it still cannot fullysafeguard us from unforeseencircumstances.And Cabinet of Ministers has the ‘upperhand’at regulating political issues pertinent to its mandate. If the law does not regulate something, it is the responsibility of the Cabinet of Ministers to fill such regulatory gap. In other words, it would be unimaginable that with sixgovernment institutions there would be none with a mandate to resolve regulatory issues that had not been foreseen by legislature when adopting a framework.It is the Cabinet of Ministers as the institution that governs the executive branch that is responsible for filling the regulatory gaps left by legislature.
VI
As I already mentioned, Cabinet of Ministers is the ‘engine of reform’. It proposes reforms.Those reforms, of course, are not some kind of a whim of yours. Those reforms are requested by stakeholders who are signalling at a necessity to changeregulation, and it is your political duty to consolidate all views into a reform package.
I would like to underline that our country’sinstitutional framework has aone weakness. Our reform capacity and competenciesarepoor.If we compare the structure of thegovernment and reform needs of Latvia and bigger countries, they are almost the same, whereas the reform competence, which is concentrated in ministries, is far from ideal.We often have to work in a state of emergency, and unfortunately we have been ‘putting out fires’ for far too long, for 30 years now.Government debate, forexample, the current debate on changes in the party financing framework, which is a crucial reform,is always last-minute. This is indicative of poor reform capacity.So, we must find ways to strengthen it and that is a challenge in its own.Let me underline – we have a shortage of political and reform capacity.If necessary, I can further address that in a different format, for example, at a conference or present it as an opinion of the President of Latvia.
VII
Dear colleagues,
You are faced with numerous pressing reforms and it is a good to see that despite the complicated and seemingly impossible composition of the coalition, your government has launched and, in some cases, almostcompleted several urgent reforms.However, let me also remind you that so far none of these numerous reforms have beenfullycompleted as of yet. Let me mention the most significant of them:
- Regional reform, which, as we all know, has been widely debated and there are different ideas as to what it should look like, but one thing is absolutely clear–we need this reform, we just need to decide how to implement it.
- Ministry of Education and Science has altogether three reforms on its agenda.One of the major challenges faced by our education and science ministeris higher education reform. The reform has begun and in December minister will have to present the new university governance strategy.School network reformis partly linked to regional reform.And so is the skills-based learning curricula reform, which is very important, and we should also not forget about the transition to education in official language, which will influence all schools.So many reforms in one sector. I can only wish the line ministry strength in advancing all these reforms.
- And, of course, there is also the health reform, which includes numerous areas.
- There is also judiciary reform, which has taken a lot clearer shape now that we have clarity on financial crime courts and necessary changes in the Criminal Procedure Law to avoid delaying justice in criminal cases to staggering 10 years.
Of course, there are many other reforms as well.So, as you see, the primary task of the Cabinet of Ministersis to manage constant reforms that Latvia needs to keep up with the demands of the modern-day fast-paced life.
VIII
I would also like to point out the State Audit Office has presented its report today. In its report,State Audit Office identifiesa number ofpublic administration weaknesses. In most cases those are financial accounting issues and lack of evidence to support expenditure.Although being audited and requested to present documents is never nice,I do not thinkgovernment and civil serviceshould perceive the State Audit Office as their enemy or foe.Nevertheless, Office’s findings should be taken as a valuable guidance.Therefore, you should take them very seriously and put them to good use to make sure these guidelines are implemented and have effect.
IX
Dear colleagues,
As I already mentioned, the seemingly politically impossible five-party coalition headed by the Prime Minister seems to be working. I think that because of its complexity, paradoxically, it has every chance to keep working throughout its mandate until the next general elections. Any alternative governments that would replace this complicated and complex composition of five different parties would be less desirable.
I think all coalition parties should take this into account and try to make the government job easier by toning down (some parties should do it more, some less) their rhetoric and, instead of political pre-election promises, focus more on what needs to be done. Some election promises have been too far-fetched to make them true. I think voters will appreciate more realistic promises - we should not underestimate the common sense of the voters. In other words, five coalition parties should be able to agree on balanced government budget proposal and other vital issues.
X
And last but not least, the much debated question of political party financing. I believe it is important to find the solution that makes our parties more independent and less tied up by vested interests of donors. It is a test to our democracy. I must also say that the tabled proposal is not really the most acceptable. There is a serious need to fine-tune the tabled proposal before it is adopted. Further consultations will ensure that the funding, which is legitimately allocated to political parties for their political activities, is really used by political groups in a meaningful way and in accordance with the defined objectives of those parties. Although the proposal provide already does that, stronger emphasis is still needed. I hope that the ruling parties that have developed the proposal will do what is necessary to improve it and, if necessary, will also consult the President of Latvia.
Thank you for the invitation to meet with the Cabinet of Ministers and address its distinguished members. I believe this is a vivid proof that the six constitutional institutions are, indeed, closely coordinating their efforts and are fully aware of their constitutional role. It also means that by joining their efforts they are ready to contribute to the development of our country.
Thank you!
