Media-hostile lawyer’s efforts to form Latvian government faltering

Efforts to form a Latvian government by a media-hostile lawyer from an anti-establishment party appear to be faltering.

Talks among six parties with seats in the Latvian parliament or Saeima have been going on since after November 26, when President Raimonds Vējonis nominated Aldis Gobzems, of the Who Owns The State? (KPVLV) party to form a government after an earlier effort by Jānis Bordāns of the New Conservative Party (JKP) failed. But with a December 10 deadline looming, the sides appeared split on a number of important issues, such as government transparency and Gobzems’ and his party’s attitude toward the media.

Gobzems has proposed ending open government meetings that can be attended by journalists and watched online, instead only making official announcements when government meetings, held weekly on Tuesdays, end. Government meetings have been open to media in Latvia for many years, except for explicitly confidential parts of the agenda.

Critical journalists — lock them up!!

In August, Gobzems filed criminal defamation charges against two journalists from the investigative journalism organization Re:Baltica for writing an article asking whether KPVLV was supported by a Latvian oligarch interested in improving relations with Russia to the benefit of his businesses. Even if the charges are dismissed by the police as expected, Re:Baltica had to enlist its lawyers write responses to Gobzems…