Ombudsman Juris Jansons has found violations of political neutrality and misinformation in the greetings of the chairman of the Ogre municipality Egils Helmanis (National Alliance) to the local residents, the Ombudsman said in a statement on December 5.
At the beginning of the year, the Ogre Municipality Civic Cooperation and Development Association turned to the Ombudsman’s Office, asking to assess certain content in the municipality’s information networks, including the municipality’s newsletter “Savietis”. According to the Society, certain municipal information channels regularly publish texts, opinions and images expressing the opinion of one political force, and misinformation.
The association has based its accusations on two quotations from the publication, where a year ago the municipality’s chairman, Helmanis, while congratulating the residents on the national holidays and Christmas, among other things, expressed his thoughts on family values and their differences “from the way the average Latvian thinks”.
“At a time when we should be fighting for a mood of masculinity and militancy in the nation, we have a government fighting for the right of two men to marry. (..) Look for the Kangars [fictional character] in the Latvian people,” Helmanis said in his greeting on November 18.
The association also pointed out that the municipality’s website published Helmanis’ call to citizens to sign a petition to initiate a referendum on the then-suspended amendments to the Notary Law, which introduced the institution of partnership. After receiving a petition signed by 34 MPs, President Edgars Rinkēvičs suspended the publication of the law at the time, but the required tenth of voters’ signatures was not collected and the law entered into force.
A personal appeal by the President of the City Council could be perceived as a lack of political neutrality, Jansons stressed in his opinion statement.
The municipal newsletter informs the local population about the work of the municipality – the performance of its functions, the decisions taken, as well as publishes the information required by laws and regulations, the Ombudsman’s opinion states.
The information to be published in the newsletter should be truthful and objective, including non-commercial and politically neutral, the Ombudsman stated, referring to information provided by the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development (VARAM).
The Ombudsman’s opinion has a recommendatory nature.
The publication of the municipality’s newsletter is covered by the municipality’s budget and is not mass media.
