The sword of Damocles hangs over the heads of some politicians, President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga said in her final speech to Latvia’a parliament, and the Saeima and the nation’s political parties should clean up their acts to maintain the trust of voters.

Although she said she sees no cause to dissolve parliament—as some critics of the current Saeima have called for—the president nonetheless used the June 21 speech to urge the state prosecutor’s office to step up its investigation of corruption among politicians, according to the text of the speech provided by the president’s press office.

“Already the sword of Damocles hangs over the heads of some,” Vīķe-Freiberga said, referring to the mythical blade that symbolizes impending peril. “It hangs by a hair and we do not yet know where and when it will fall. If we live in a just state, then it will have to fall sometime.”

Vīķe-Freiberga’s speech came 17 days before her term in office runs out July 7 and a national referendum is scheduled on amendments to two national security laws. The controversial amendments, pushed through by the Cabinet of Ministers and approved by the Saeima, have already been rescinded, but critics have said the referendum may serve as a symbolic vote of confidence in the work of Latvia’s politicians.

She called on all political parties to carefully review their activities and financial resources, as well as to review party members, including those who were elected to the 9th Saeima. If those parties still want to be active and represented in the 10th and 11th parliaments, Vīke-Freiberga warned, they should separate the Biblical goats from the sheep.

The president also called on Latvian citizens to become more involved in politics.

“There would be no reason to dissolve whichever Saeima in whichever time, if in the ensuing elections there would not be serious, new candidate lists to offer in place of those already known,” she said.

Although she scolded politicians, the president also thanked lawmakers for their cooperation in developing democracy in Latvia.

The president also discussed the power of her position, her achievements and the nation’s future.

Vīķe-Freiberga is in the final weeks of her presidency. The second of her four-year terms ends July 7. She will be replaced by Valdis Zatlers, a medical doctor elected president May 31 in a 58-39 vote of the Saeima.

The Central Election Commission has deleted the Embassy of Latvia in Kazakhstan from the list of polling stations where citizens may vote in the July 7 national referendum.

The embassy, based in the Kazakh capital of Astana, is unable to guarantee operation during the referendum, the Rīga-based election commission announced in a June 12 press release. The decision to strike the embassy from the list came at the suggestion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

That leaves 47 polling stations which will be open abroad for the July 7 referendum on revoking controversial amendments to two national security laws.

Dedication of the Victims of Communism Memorial, which honors the more than 100 million people killed under totalitarian communist regimes, is scheduled June 12 during a day full of activities in Washington, D.C.

The memorial, located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, New Jersey Avenue and G Street, resembles the “Goddess of Democracy” statue erected by demonstrating Chinese students during the 1989 unrest in Tiananmen Square.

Nearly USD 1 million in private funding was raised for the memorial by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, which was formed in 1993. The government of Latvia gave USD 1,500, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We have tried to focus a public spotlight on the crimes and victims of communism so that the world will never forget and never again allow so evil a tyranny to terrorize the world,” foundation chairman Lee Edwards said in a press release.

Four events will highlight the day of dedication: unveiling of the memorial itself, a reception for guests, a roundtable discussion on communism and its victims and a gala awards dinner.

The dedication begins at 10 a.m. at the site of the memorial. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) will give the keynote adddress. A reception will follow at the National Guard Association Hall of States at 1 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.

A roundtable discussion, “The Victims and Crimes of Communism,” is scheduled at 2 p.m.in the Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave. N.E. Among panelists are Richard Pipes of Harvard University, an historian of Russia and the Soviet Union; Paul Hollander, a professor emeritus of sociology and an associate at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies; Alan Kors, a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania; former U.S. State Department official Paul Goble, and Harry Wu, a Chinese human rights activist.

The events conclude with a 6 p.m. gala awards dinner and program at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. The keynote speaker will be Elena Bonner, widow of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. The Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom will be presented to William F. Buckley Jr. and posthumously to Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson.

The day of dedication coincides with the 20th anniversary of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s challenge to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev during a 1987 speech at the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin, West Germany. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” Reagan said. Two years later, the Berlin Wall—built in 1961 to prevent escapes from East Berlin to the West—began to be dismantled. The Soviet Union itself collapsed in 1991.