Saeima to get a new Sustainable Development and Demography Committee

In Latvia's parliament, the Saeima, the current Sustainable Development Committee will be replaced by a Sustainable Development and Demography Committee. Its work is meant to pay more attention to demography, given worsening birth rates. This was told to the news agency LETA by Uģis Mitrevics of the National Alliance (NA), chair of the Sustainable Development Committee of the 14th Saeima.

What changes

The renaming and wider remit were proposed by Daiga Mieriņa of the Union of Greens and Farmers, Speaker of the 14th Saeima. The related amendments to the Saeima's rules of procedure have already been approved and are to apply from the convening of the 15th Saeima.

Mitrevics supports the change. He noted that demography covers not only births but also the age structure of society, the number of working-age residents, migration and mortality. According to him, the previous committee also examined demographic issues, asked the Ministry of Welfare for information and proposals, and worked on budget proposals. With the wider remit, Mitrevics no longer sees a need for a separate Demography subcommittee. He stressed that demographic issues must also be strengthened at the level of the executive branch, where they have so far ranked second or third among many other matters.

Sharing work with another committee

Mitrevics said he has not been informed of specific plans by Saeima Speaker Edvards Smiltēns (Progressives) to review the Sustainable Development Committee's work. Still, he would see it as a logical solution for the new committee to take over part of the issues handled by the Economic, Agrarian, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee, which he described as overloaded. Smiltēns, speaking on Latvian Television's programme "Šodienas jautājums", said that committee could be split in two and that subcommittees should be set up only with a specific goal and deadline.

Who will lead it

Mitrevics confirmed that the NA would like to take responsibility for the new committee. Whether he himself will keep chairing it depends on the faction's decision. Smiltēns plans to propose that on 10 November the Saeima Presidium and the Council of Factions agree on principles for forming committees and on deadlines for nominating candidates, so that committees could start work on 18 November.