10,000 signatures collected in one day for initiative to abolish Saeima deputies' compensation

More than 10,000 Latvian residents have signed an initiative that seeks to abolish compensation for Saeima deputies' transport costs and rental accommodation. The number of signatures required for submission to parliament was collected in just one day, and the issue will now be taken up by the Saeima.

Signature collection began on 16 July. On Wednesday, less than half of the required signatures had been gathered, but by Thursday the 10,000 threshold was reached. The initiative was launched by Andis Feldmanis, deputy head of the Latvian Health and Social Care Workers' Union.

The initiative states that every person has the right to freely choose their occupation and place of residence. Many health and social care workers, as well as teachers, commute to work from more remote regions or are forced to rent accommodation in another city, covering these expenses themselves. Since current regulations do not oblige employers to pay for employees' travel and housing costs, there is no objective reason for Saeima deputies to be in a more favourable position than other public sector employees.

The author of the initiative argues that a deputy's position should be one of public trust and honour, not profit. In the current situation, with a state budget deficit and insufficient funding for critical areas such as healthcare, education and internal security, maintaining such compensations is unacceptable and contrary to public interest. Abolishing the current system would save taxpayer money that could be redirected to more important public needs, and would demonstrate deputies' solidarity with the people of Latvia.

According to publicly available data, Saeima deputies received a total of €22,419.53 in compensation in June. Housing rental compensation accounted for €13,732.98, while transport compensation amounted to €8,686.55.

The largest total compensation in June was received by Artūrs Butāns (NA) – €934.53, followed by Līga Kļaviņa (ZZS) – €928.35, Ramona Petraviča (LPV) – €903.97, Viktorija Pleškāne (LPV) – €900.48 and Anita Brakovska (ZZS) – €886.04. Also among the largest recipients were Jānis Skrastiņš (JV) – €839.44 and Jānis Vucāns (ZZS) – €837.02.

The highest rental compensation in June went to Līga Kozlovska (ZZS) – €800, as well as Līga Kļaviņa (ZZS) – €780, Ramona Petraviča (LPV) – €750, Artūrs Butāns (NA) – €750 and Mārcis Jencītis (LPV) – €720. Meanwhile, the largest transport compensation payments were made to Anita Brakovska (ZZS) – €486.04, Edgars Putra (AS) – €452.15, Atis Labucis (LPV) – €426.53, Viktorija Pleškāne (LPV) – €400.48 and Jānis Vucāns (ZZS) – €397.02.