Just three weeks after voters get to decide if they should have the constitutional right to call for the dismissal of Latvia’s parliament, they will be sent back to the polls to decide whether state pensions should be higher.

The Central Election Commission has announced that a referendum on boosting state pensions will take place Aug. 23. The July 4 decision came after the Saeima rejected a citizen initiative calling for the higher pensions. The parliament on July 3 defeated Bill 751 on a 44-6 vote—but 46 lawmakers abstained.

The bill was submitted by President Valdis Zatlers on June 6 after a citizen initiative gathered more than 177,000 signatures in support of amending the state law on pensions. (Of those, 378 signatures were gathered abroad, according to the election commission. The honorary consulate in Adelaide, Australia, accounted for 100 signatures—the highest number in any location outside Latvia.) Because the Saeima rejected the bill, under Latvia’s law on initiative and referendum the legislation must now be put to a vote of the people.

The amendment would boost state pensions to no less than three times the state welfare payment, which would bring the retirement benefit to at least LVL 135 per month. The minimum state pension now is LVL 49.50 per month. Latvia’s living wage stood at LVL 159.55 in May, according to the Central Statistical Bureau.

Although the Saeima rejected the proposed amendment, it already on June 19 acted to boost pension payments. Beginning in 2009, pensions will increase at least 70 santīms for every year worked up to Dec. 31, 1995. In addition, starting October 2009 pensions will be indexed on an annual basis, according to the Ministry of Welfare.

With Latvia’s slowing economy, government officials have expressed concern about where they would the find money in the state budget if voters approve the referendum and pensions suddenly more than double.

The Aug. 23 referendum on the pension law will follow the Aug. 2 referendum on a constitutional amendment to allow citizens to initiate a recall of the Saeima. The constitutional amendment also was proposed by a citizen initiative and, as with the pension law amendment, was rejected by parliament.

For the pension law referendum to count, at least 453,730 voters—half the number who participated in the last Saeima election—must cast ballots on Aug. 23. A majority of those must vote in favor of the amendment for the new pension level to take effect.

Details on where and how to vote in Latvia and abroad will be available on the Web site of the Central Election Commission, www.cvk.lv.

Latvian State Television now also will stream a limited number of 2008 Latvian Song and Dance Festival events live over the Internet.

The state-funded broadcaster announced July 3 that 10 events during the July 5-12 celebration will be available on www.ltv1.lv and www.ltvarhivs.lv.

Events to be streamed include:

• July 5: The sacred music concert beginning at 21:00 hours Latvian time.
• July 6: The song festival parade starting at 11:00 hours and the opening concert at 21:00 hours.
• July 7: The dance program “Deju svētkiem – 60” beginning at 21:20 hours.
• July 8: The dance concert “No sirsniņas sirsniņai” at 22:00 hours.
• July 9: The symphonic music concert starting at 21:25 hours.
• July 10: The concert “Veltījums tautasdziesmai” at 20:20 hours.
• July 11: The grand dance program “Izdejot laiku” starting at 22:00 hours.
• July 12: The folk music concert “Gaismas istaba” at 10:00 hours and the closing concert at 21:00 hours.

As reported earlier, a number of song festival events will be available to television viewers in Latvia, while Latvian State Radio and the official song festival Web site www.dziesmusvetki2008.lv also will carry some live or recorded broadcasts.

If you can’t be there in person for the 2008 Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Rīga, you can still be there virtually by listening to or watching some events on radio, television or the Internet.

Organizers of the July 5-12 festival have announced a schedule of live and recorded presentations of events beginning with the July 5 sacred music concert and concluding with the final concert on July 12.

Live and recorded broadcasts on Latvian State Television will only be viewable within in Latvia, but those on Latvian State Radio may be listened to over the Internet at www.latvijasradio.lv. In addition, the official song festival Web site, www.dziesmusvetki2008.lv will provide live and recorded streams of some of state television’s broadcasts.

Song festival events to be offered by the various media include:

• July 5: The sacred music concert in the Dome Church.
• July 6: The song festival parade through downtown Rīga, the dance program “Deju svētkiem – 60” in Arēna Rīga and and the opening festival concert “Dziedot dzimu, dziedot augu” at the Mežaparks open-air stage.
• July 8: The choir competition in the Great Hall of the University of Latvia, the symphonic music concert in the Latvian National Opera and the dance celebration concert in the International Exhibit Center at Ķīpsala.
• July 9: The vocal ensemble concert “Mīlestības dziesmas” in the Dome Square.
• July 10: The folk music concert in the Great Hall of the University of Latvia and the concert “Veltījums tautasdziesmai” in the Congress Hall.
• July 11: The grand dance performance “Izdejot laiku” in the Daugava Stadium.
• July 12: The kokle concert in the Large Guild and the closing festival concert at the Mežaparks open-air stage.

A full schedule of coverage is available by visiting www.dziesmusvetki2008.lv.