LPV Turns to KNAB Over Play 'Order No.2' – Calls for Investigation into Possible Election Campaigning

MP Edmunds Zivtiņš, on behalf of LPV, has sent an application to KNAB head Jēkabs Straume requesting a thorough investigation into the financing of the Dailes Theatre production 'Order No.2'. Earlier in January, party chairman Ainārs Šlesers had already approached KNAB, noting that the play – dedicated to Valdis Zatler's 2011 order to dissolve the 10th Saeima – was scheduled just before the 2026 parliamentary elections. At that time, KNAB replied that there was insufficient information to determine hidden campaigning.

Now that the play is being performed, Zivtiņš, after watching it, believes the concerns were justified. He points out that of all the politicians depicted in the play (Zatlers, Šķēle, Āboltiņa), Šlesers is the only one still active – leading a party and considered a real candidate for prime minister. According to polls, LPV is the most popular political force ahead of the upcoming 15th Saeima elections.

In the application, Zivtiņš emphasizes that the Dailes Theatre, as a state-owned enterprise receiving substantial budget funding, creates a legal contradiction with the Law on Pre-election Campaigning by staging a play with a distinctly political undertone during the campaign period. He also highlights what he sees as selective enforcement by KNAB: while LPV faces intense scrutiny over social media posts, a state-funded play escapes evaluation. LPV asserts that it is not against artistic freedom but against the timing and context – namely, just before the 15th Saeima elections.