Ventspils and Jelgava will not be expanded with municipalities or municipal territories

An agreement has been reached Ventspils and Jelgava will not be provided additional municipalities or municipal territories.

Generally the review of the administrative territorial reform’s legislative draft in the Saeima on 26 May went more quickly than in the previous review process, when the draft was viewed in the second reading.

On Tuesday, the Saeima, having convened at 14:00, managed to review 75 out of 377 submitted proposals.

During the second reading, the Saeima spent approximately 11 hours in a meeting, discussing a total of 20 proposals out of 316. The number of proposals submitted for the final reading is much larger than that.

It is possible this time debates were not as active, which may be because the coalition and part of the opposition have reached an agreement on multiple matters the two sides had previously disagreed on.

It is also possible debates are shorter because for the first time multiple non-faction opposition Saeima deputies did not participate in e-Saeima meeting. These politicians believe that the e-Saeima system breaches the Constitution.

The second viewing, in spite of slow start, sped up rapidly when the state of emergency was adopted in the country. The opposition and coalition agreed to quickly review the legislative draft, putting off disagreements for the third reading.

Proposals from the opposition and coalition were not supported by the coalition. Failing to secure support for his proposals, Saeima deputy Andris Kazinovskis decided to leave the parliament’s faction of the New Conservative Party.

Saeima declared a break in the meeting until Thursday, 28 May.