Matīss Gricmanis

THE PRESIDENT

In 2011, for the first time in the history of Latvia, the parliament – the Saeima – was dissolved. The decision garnered enthusiastic public support. President Valdis Zatlers, whose appointment was said to have been plotted by oligarchs in a zoo, became a national hero, and the party named after him won the election. 

What were the true consequences of the president’s decree? The president chosen by the People’s Party introduced himself as a fighter against three oligarchs. At the same time, he ushered in a new generation into Latvian politics. The Zatlers Reform Party, founded after the decree, brought in people who today essentially hold all the highest offices in the country – from the president to the mayor of Riga. Those in power are often ironically referred to as ‘Zatlerists’.

Were the oligarchs pushed aside from Latvian politics, or, on the contrary, did they for the first time decide to unite in order to strengthen their economic interests? The country’s major media falling into direct dependence on oligarchs, loud corruption scandals, Machiavellian manoeuvring for state offices and, finally, inviting the pro-Russian Harmony Centre party into government. Were these the real consequences?

Someone with insight into the process is said to have remarked that “we are writing history”. So what is it like twenty years later? Did Zatlers deserve the praise he received, or was the dissolution of the Saeima a political trick to keep hold of the presidency? As always, there are more questions than answers.