Budget, Elections, Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation

In an interview on TV3 this morning, the politician said that Bondars has not been found guilty of a crime by that court, but has lost in a civil suit, and that the people who voted for him knew that Bondars was going through such court proceedings and that the previous judgment in the case had already been unfavorable to him.

Commenting the statement released by the Progressives for Bondars to step down as the committee's chair, Puce said the conclusions reached by the Progressives were "not exactly in line with the legal facts in this judgment." Puce emphasized that "Bondars has not been found guilty" because it is not a criminal proceeding, but a civil dispute over the limits of the board's liability in evaluating certain transactions.

Thus, Puce believes that Bondars has ''no moral, not legal'' duty to step down as chair of the committee. He also added that the Progressives have the right to freely express their point of view at any time.

As reported, after a negative ruling by the Supreme Court ordering the former management board of the now defunct Latvijas Krajbanka to pay EUR 15,366,981 mln to the bank’s insolvency administrator KPMG Baltics, the Progressives calls on Martins Bondars (For Development) to step down as chairman of the Saeima's Budget and Finance Committee. 

The Progressives are running on one ticket together with For Development in the emergency Riga City Council elections.

The court ruling came into effect on April 28, and the Progressives are dissatisfied that no action has been taken by Bondars the past three weeks and instead of personal political responsibility, his latest public statements have "questioned the Latvian judiciary and undermined public confidence in the work of the Saeima".

"In order for Latvia's politics to become transparent and fair, such political practice has no place in modern Latvian politics," the Progressive said in a statement.

"The Budget and Finance (Tax) Committee of the Saeima has a direct impact on public finances and the banking sector, therefore it is not acceptable that it is headed by an official whose unfavorable court ruling has entered into force in connection with previous professional activities in the financial sector," the Progressives believe.

"One of the goals of any politician must be to raise public confidence, and in the case of Bondars it has long been lost. Any honest person would resign in such a situation," added  Antonina Nenaseva,one of the leaders of the Progressives.