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“Even in the darkest hour people preserve the timeless values. Our escape from 50 years of oppression and stagnation attests to that. We were capable of demanding and regaining freedom. Most of the Latvian people, along with the country’s ethnic minorities, desired to restore Latvia as a democratic European nation state,” emphasised Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, on Monday, 4 May, in her address at the ceremonial sitting of the Saeima at the Latvian National Theatre in honour of the 25th anniversary of the restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia.
“Twenty-five years have elapsed since the restoration of Latvia’s independence. On this date a quarter of a century ago we witnessed the triumph of righteousness over injustice and the rebirth of truth. The Supreme Council adopted the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia. This was the beginning of the revival of our statehood, which was forcefully disrupted by the Soviet occupation,” said Speaker Mūrniece.
In her address the Speaker of the Saeima assessed the development Latvia has undergone in the 25 years since the restoration of independence. “Latvia’s public institutions have been restored successfully. The democratic Constitution of Latvia has been in effect for 22 years. The preamble of the Constitution – its permanent core – now defines the fundamental values of the state. After 4 May, Latvia’s society, as elsewhere in Eastern Europe, underwent a historically unprecedented transition to the market economy,” said Speaker Mūrniece and went on to point out that “while our friends in the West and we ourselves believed that Latvia’s economy would quickly and smoothly adapt to the free market model of the old democracies, resources remained in the hands of the same people who held them in the Latvian SSR.
“Taking advantage of the financial resources and contacts of the Communist Party, the KGB and the Communist Youth Union, former Soviet conformists and collaborationists became wealthy businessmen. Latvia’s list of millionaires still includes many participants of fraudulent privatisation schemes who attained their wealth not by founding and managing honest businesses, but rather by misappropriating national resources. They were primarily concerned with securing their own well-being, rather than that of the state and nation. They were the ones who turned democracy in Latvia into a pseudo-democracy, passing off a jungle economy for the free market and dictating to the whole country rules beneficial only to themselves. For many this created bitterness that eventually turned into distrust in the state. Such a course of events crippled and impeded Latvia’s development,” stated the Speaker of the Saeima and noted that greed and craving for ever more money are the greatest threats to Latvia.
In her address Speaker Mūrniece stressed that a lot of work still needs to be done in order to eradicate blatant distortions of justice. “Public institutions must defend the interests of the wealthy and the less well-off with equal force and concern. Justice and social equality must be like sunlight that shines equally brightly over those who strut on polished hardwood floors and those who tread uneven cobblestones. This is the way to build public trust and strengthen the state.”
In the conclusion of her address the Speaker of the Saeima pointed out that the state of Latvia is not separated from us. “We are the state of Latvia – its strength is built on our faith in ourselves, our devotion to our people and our state. The strongest defence lines are those which wind through our hearts and minds,” said the Speaker and congratulated the audience, all fellow countrymen and those loyal to Latvia near and far on the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of Latvia.
Saeima Press Service