The deputy chairperson is currently the actual head of the municipality in Jelgava region, as there has been no council chairperson for about five months. After the resignation of Madaras Lasmanis (LA) after the “feet scandal”, the councilors of Jelgava district have not been able to reach an agreement on the election of a new mayor, although there have been some attempts.
Vitola was released from office with 11 votes “for”. Five were against and three abstained.
Deputy Irina Dolgova (S), justifying the motion to dismiss Vitols from her position, accused her of not organizing the council’s work, deliberately omitting various issues and not making decisions.
On the other hand, Dainis Liepiņš (LRA) commented that Vītola’s political power, taking into account the long experience in the county council, has a sense of impunity and superiority.
Councilor Uldis Ainārs (JV) also claimed that the deputy chairman of the council is hiding important information related to a member of her own party, a member of the council. He asked if Vitola knows about the “incident at school”, if she is informed about the trial that will take place on September 16 and who is the defendant.
Publicly available information shows that on September 16 at 10 a.m. the Zemgale district court will hear the case in which MP Juris Razživins (LZS) is accused. He has been charged in accordance with Article 126, Part 1 of the Criminal Law – for intentional infliction of moderate bodily harm. Such an offense is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a period of up to three years or by temporary deprivation of liberty, or by probation supervision, or by community service, or by a fine.
Later in the meeting, Irina Dolgova (S), who has been active in the opposition of the council until now, was elected as the deputy chairman of the Jelgava regional council. Dolgova was the only candidate for this position and won the support of 11 colleagues. Seven deputies were against. In total, there are 19 deputies in the city council, but “Saskaņa” has only one mandate.
Dolgov was nominated for the position by Andris Ozoliņš (LZP). He said that the deputy has sufficient experience in the city council, working in the opposition. In addition, Dolgova has had no personal conflicts with other colleagues, which could increase support.
It has already been reported that last week the municipality received a submission signed by ten members of the city council with an invitation to convene an emergency meeting of the city council and consider the issue of Vitola’s dismissal from office and the election of a new deputy chairman.
On the other hand, the executive director of the municipality representing the political power of Vītola, Līga Lonerte, whose temporary suspension was decided by the regional deputies, says in a statement that there is no valid reason for Vītola’s ouster, “only political rhetoric, efforts to reduce the influence of the Latvian Farmers’ Union in the city council”. She believes that it is most likely a punishment for not supporting Andras Ozoliņš (LZP) for the post of council chairman.
“At the same time, the balance of power makes it possible to play out the efforts to take over power step by step, to settle accounts with the executive branch, which has been going on continuously for months, but with my suspension, it is easier to implement. A similar scenario was observed in 2021, when the suspension made it possible to “drop” the chairman of the city council at that time ,” claims Lonerte.
After the then council chairman Madars Lasmanis (LA) resigned on April 3, the work of the Jelgava county council has been going on without a council chairman for more than four months.
2024-08-30 10:29:32