Nav noslēpums, ka mūsu organizācijai tuvas ir sociāldemokrātiskās vērtības. Tieši tāpēc mums ir grūti noskatīties, ka partija no Latvijas nozākā sociāldemokrātijas vārdu un melo gan Latvijai, gan Eiropai par to, ka cildina sociāldemokrātiskas vērtības, lai gan nestāv tām pat tuvu.
Šī partija, protams, ir “Saskaņa”. Tā ir partija, kas ir iesaistīta vairākos korupcijas skandālos. Partijas vadītājs Nils Ušakovs pirms apmēram nedēļas “Delfi Tv” Jānim Domburam paziņoja, ka “Saskaņa” neatbalsta LGBT+ kopienas tiesības un nevēlas piedalīties migrantu krīzes risināšanā, lai gan tie ir Eiropas sociāldemokrātisko partiju apvienības pamatprincipi. Kā zināms, “Saskaņa” ir šīs apvienības biedre.
Jaunatnes organizācija “Protests” ir uzrakstījusi vēstuli Eiropas Sociālistu partijai (PES) un Eiropas Sociālistu un demokrātu progresīvajai aliansei (S&D Group) un pievienojusi tai “Delfi TV” intervijas izgriezumu, tā atšifrējumu un tulkojumu, kā arī nelielu atstāstu par “Rīgas Satiksmes” korupcijas skandālu. Šajā vēstulē mēs lūdzam PES un S&D Group atkārtoti izvērtēt, vai “Saskaņa” drīkstētu dēvēt sevi par sociāldemokrātiem un vai PES ir to īstā vieta Eiropas Parlamentā.
Vēstule, video un atšifrējums — zemāk.
"Dear Party of European Socialists and Socialists & Democrats group,
As you are aware, the political party “Saskaņa” (“Harmony”) from Latvia is a member of PES and, respectively, the S&D Group.
Concerns about the party and its chairman Nils Ušakovs have been in public and parliamentary discourse for a while, as their demonstrated values and conduct do not align with social democracy.
Now, Ušakovs has been removed from his position as the mayor of Riga because of serious charges of involvement in the corruption scandal surrounding Rīgas Satiksme, a public enterprise which has spent millions of taxpayer euros received as government and council grants to provide public transportation for the city of Rīga, however investigations have found gross misconduct and a clearly corrupt system. Nils Ušakovs has not only publicly defended the enterprise, but permitted the corruption. Additionally, a considerable number of his party mates were hired as consultants and directly benefited from Rīgas Satiksme’s schemes.
While Ušakovs and the members of “Saskaņa” have always been careful when speaking of social democratic principles and issues in Europe, in Latvia they have been very open and clear on their values. For example, they have said repeatedly that they do not support the LGBT+ community and have no intention to change this position. This and many other actions has lead us to believe that “Saskaņa” is not social democratic and should not be the party selected by PES from Latvia, especially considering that there are other, better-suited candidates.
Below we provide a transcript in English and Latvian of a recent interview with Ušakovs that took place on April 9 and was published on the Latvian news site www.delfi.lv.
The interviewer asks N. Ušakovs if “Saskaņa” supports LGBT+ rights and are prepared to show solidarity with other EU states in managing the migration challenges. Ušakovs clearly states that they don’t, and don’t intend to support these issues later, claiming that their voters are opposed.
We have also attached a video of this interview (in Latvian) and added a transcript in both Latvian and English.
We ask of PES and S&D group to reconsider if Saskaņa and Ušakovs are truly the social democrats they claim to be and if PES is the right place for them in the European Parliament.
Intervētājs: Vēl viena lieta — vai mīļa, nemīļa, nezinu — bet ja jūs visa tā orientācija, arī programmas idejas par orientāciju ir uz dalību Sociālistu un demokrātu progresīvās alianses grupā, politiskajā grupā Eiropas parlamentā... nu ir divas lietas, par kurām jūs nerunājat programmā, bet par kas ir viņu principi. Respektīvi, viena lieta ir cilvēktiesību žanrā ne tikai etniskie jautājumi, bet arī seksuālās minoritātes, kuru tiesības ir jāveicina, kas ir viņu oficiālais vēstījums, un otrs ir solidaritāte, lai risinātu migrācijas bēgļu politiku. Tie arī ir uzstādījumi, ar kuriem jūs nākat pie Latvijas vēlētējiem?
Ušakovs: Ne, mēs uzstādījumus pirmām kārtām saņemam no vēlētāja, un tas ir jautājums par to, cik mūsu vēlētāji gatavi atbalstīt. Šajos jautājumos, es pieņemu, mūsu vēlētājs nebūs gatavs iet tik tālu.
Intervētājs: Respektīvi, šajā jomā jūs neesat šajās pozīcijās.
Ušakovs: Piedodiet mani lūdzu, katrai partijai ir attiecīgi savs kopums, šis ir ļoti populārs tagad vārds, ar pozīcijām, kur viņi ir gatavi iet tālāk un kur patreiz vai nepatreiz mūsu vēlētājs, es pieņemu, mums tādu mandātu nedos.
Interviewer: Another thing – liked or not, I don’t know – but if your whole orientation, also your programme, is oriented on being a part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the political group in European Parliament... well there are two things that you don’t speak about in your programme, but which are their principles. Respectively, one of those things is in the human rights genre not only about ethnic questions but also sexual minorities whose rights are to be promoted which is their official message and the second one is solidarity in solving the migration refugees policy. Are those also the policies with which you come to Latvian voters?
Ušakovs: No, we receive our policy firstly from our voters and it’s a question of how much our voters are ready to support. In these questions, I assume, our voter won’t be ready to go that far.
Interviewer: Respectively, in this scope you aren’t taking these positions.
Ušakovs: I beg your pardon, every party has its own collection, it’s a very popular word right now, with positions in which they’re ready to go further and where now or not now our voter, I assume, wouldn’t give us that mandate."
