With just two days left in a citizen initiative to compel the Latvian parliament to boost state pensions, it appears the required number of signatures have been gathered, according to the Central Election Commission in Rīga.

A total of 149,064 signatures, or 10 percent of the total number of voters in the last parliamentary election, need to be gathered in the drive that began April 16 and which is scheduled to end May 15. By May 13, 140,297 citizens had signed onto the initiative, while another 12,161 signed the initial petition in favor of the initiative, bringing the total to 152,458, the Central Election Commission announced, citing provisional data.

That means proposed legislation amending the state pension law most likely will be submitted to the Saeima for its approval. If the Saeima does not accept the proposed legislation, a national referendum must be called on the issue.

This would be the second proposed law to go before the parliament this year under new procedures that allow citizen initiative in Latvia. Last month, the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (Latvijas Brīvo arodbiedrību savienība) successfully concluded an initiative to get lawmakers to consider a constitutional amendment allowing citizens to initiate a recall of the parliament. The amendments are now under consideration by Saeima commissions.

Changes to the pension law are proposed by the Pensioners and Seniors Party (Pensionaru un senioru partija) and by the Association for a Different Politics and a Judicial State (Sabiedriba citai politikai un tiesiskai valstij). They seek an increase in the minimum monthly state pension to no less than three times the state welfare payment.

A total of 622 locations in Latvia have been open for citizens to sign on to the initiative. Outside of Latvia, citizens may visit one of 43 embassies, consulates general and consulates. In the United States and Canada, the Latvian embassies each organized an additional day for the signature drive in Rockville, Md., and in Toronto.

Data on the number of signatures gathered on the pension law initiative at locations outside of Latvia have not yet been furnished by the Central Election Commission.

Information on locations where the initiative may be signed is available from the Central Election Commission online at www.cvk.lv. To be able to sign the initiative, citizens must be at least 18 years old, must possess a valid Latvian passport and must appear in person.

It was a hard-fought game, but Latvia lost 5-3 to Germany on May 12, missing out on a spot in the quarterfinals and ending its run in the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Canada.

To get to the quarterfinals, Latvia had to beat Germany, while Norway had to lose to the United States. Earlier in the day, the U.S. team thrashed Norway 9-1, giving hope to Latvian fans.

Latvia scored first against Germany in the game played in Halifax. At 5 minutes, 1 second into the first period, Herberts Vasiļjevs dropped the puck past German goaltender Dimitrij Patzold, according to game statistics provided by the IIHF. Mārtīņš Karsums and Rodrigo Laviņš earned the assists. Germany responded at 18:45 on a power play, when Christopher Schmidt scored against Latvian goaltender Edgars Masaļskis. Christoph Ullman was credited with the assist.

At 5:48 into the second period, Miķelis Rēdlihs scored for Latvia, but two minutes later Germany’s M. Wolf answered with help from Christoph Schubert, tying up the game at 2-2.

Latvia’s hopes were lifted at 11:39 into the second period when Karsums’ goal moved the team ahead 3-2. Aleksandrs Niživijs and Vasiļjevs were credited with the assist.

But the middle of the third period proved fatal for Latvia. Germany scored three times just minutes apart, beginning with Schubert’s goal at 7:51 into the period. Florian Busch and Andreas Renz got the assists. Yannic Seidenberg, aided by Ullmann and Renz, scored next, lifting Germany ahead 4-3. To finish off, Ullmann got his second goal of the game at 12:51, helped by Sven Felski.

Latvia recorded a total of 34 shots on goal, compared to Germany’s 29. Latvians spent 42 minutes in the penalty box, compared to the Germans’ 24.

Additional tickets for this summer’s song festival in Latvia will not be available until after June 10, says Romāns Vanags, head of the Song and Dance Celebration Office in Rīga. After tickets for the most popular concerts sold out in just hours, Culture Minister Helēna Demakova in March told Vanags she wants more tickets made available.

The song festival office is recommending that two dress rehearsals be made public events to which tickets are sold, according to a press release. Appearing May 12 on Latvian Independent Television, Vanags said the July 5 dress rehearsal for the July 6 opening concert in the Mežaparks open-air theater in Rīga, as well as the dress rehearsal for the July 6 “Deju svētkiem – 60” folk dance concert in Arēna Rīga, would become public events. However, given their investment in preparing for these events, song festival participants would get the first opportunity to buy tickets, according to the press release.

Unsold tickets from the new public events, as well as additional seating arranged for the opening and closing concerts in Mežaparks and the grand folk dance performance in the Daugava stadium, would go on sale after June 10. Song festival organizers say nearly 4,000 additional tickets will be made available for both the opening and closing song concerts, plus 1,800 additional seats will be arranged for the dance performance.

The Mežaparks theater is undergoing construction to add seating for a total of almost 22,000 spots.

Vanags said a June 3 meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers will review the song festival budget, the office announced in a press release.

When additional tickets do go on sale, a limit will be imposed. That limit is yet to be determined. After tickets sold out quickly in March, rumors surfaced about scalpers buying up blocks of seats. However, the song festival office said, police have found no evidence that happened.

The 2008 Latvian Song and Dance Festival is scheduled from July 5-12. Program details are available by visiting www.dziesmusvetki2008.lv.