Ex-president Levits unwittingly appears in political ad

This week, Riga residents found a campaign leaflet in their mailboxes featuring a quote attributed to former Latvian president Egils Levits. The leaflet cites Levits as saying that Māris Graudiņš has been one of the most far-sighted politicians in Latvia.

Graudiņš is presented in the leaflet as a candidate for the Progressive party in the upcoming Saeima elections, with the quote used to encourage voters to support him.

A surprise for Levits

According to the source report, Levits himself was reportedly surprised to learn that his words had been used in political advertising. Details on how exactly the quote ended up on the leaflet, and whether the former president had given consent for its use in campaign materials, were not disclosed.

The episode raises questions about the use of statements by former state officials in political advertising without a clear agreement with the person being quoted.