The reform must not be a goal in itself,” emphasised President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis when addressing the 30th Congress of the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments.
The President of Latvia has noted that the reform must create the preconditions for improving the quality of life of the population and promoting the business environment. The reform must not lead to a deterioration in the availability of services. It is also essential to keep in mind that local governments are the first to enable citizens to engage in democratic processes when deciding on their living environment and development of a region or a town, and thus promoting a sense of belonging to their own municipality and country. The reform should not contribute to further depopulation in the regions of Latvia and to alienation from one’s own country. The reform may not be a tool of just political party representatives nominating for the next municipal elections in any local government.
“Therefore, I call on the local governments to be constructive partners in the negotiations with the government on the goals, solutions of the reform, and content-wise implementation of the reform, because nobody knows the needs of the population and the implementation of practical work than the local governments themselves,” stated the President of Latvia.
In its turn, Raimonds Vējonis called on the Minister responsible for municipal affairs to listen to the opinions of local governments, population, and businesses when forging a dialogue with all the stakeholders and looking for the best solutions to improve the quality of life of the people of Latvia and strengthen the country in general.
