Although little known in political circles, a doctor who is chairman of the board of the Hospital of Traumotology and Orthopaedics in Rīga may become the next president of Latvia, the country’s government coalition parties announced May 23, just a week before a vote in parliament is planned.

Valdis Zatlers, 52, is not a member of any party. He is being offered as a compromise candidate by Tautas partija (People’s Party), Tēvzemei un brīvībai / LNNK (For Fatherland and Freedom / LNNK), Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība (Union of Greens and Farmers), and Latvijas Pirmā Partija and Latvijas Ceļš (First Party of Latvia and Latvia’s Way, or LPP/LC).

Meanwhile, former foreign minister Sandra Kalniete, a member of the opposition party Jaunais laiks (New Era), announced late May 24 that she is withdrawing as a presidential candidate. Instead, she told viewers of the television program “Kas notiek Latvijā,” the Saeima should elect a third candidate, Aivars Endziņš, former chairman of the Constitutional Court.

Endziņš was nominated May 24 by Saskaņas centrs (Harmony Centre).

It is expected that Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, will vote on the new president on May 31. To be elected, a candidate must receive at least 51 votes in the 100-seat parliament. It is likely Zatlers would get enough votes.

The new president would replace Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, whose second term in office ends July 8.

According to Latvian media reports, the compromise on Zatlers came after the coalition parties could not agree on other candidates. Tautas partija, for example, had nominated Māris Riekstiņš, the former Latvian ambassador to the United States who was recalled to Rīga to serve as an advisor to Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis. LPP/LC had nominated former Minister of Culture Karīna Pētersone.

Zatlers has worked at the hospital since 1994, according the hospital’s Web site. He graduated in 1979 from the Rīga Medical Institute. In 1990-1991, he spent time in the United States working with the Keggi Orthopaedic Foundation in Waterbury, Conn.

Endziņš, born in 1940, studied law at the University of Latvia and in Moscow. He also has studied in the United States. He joined the Constitutional Court in 1996. In 2006, he joined the faculty of the Turība School of Business Administration as head of the public law department.

While not specifically endorsing a candidate, Vīķe-Freiberga said in a May 23 that a nonpartisan candidate would have an easier time being elected and would be received better by the people.

Visitors to this summer’s Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Indianapolis now have more thing they can do: vote on the national referendum concerning changes to Latvia’s national security laws.

The Central Election Commission in Rīga announced May 24 that 33 polling stations—including one in Indianapolis, Ind.—have been added for the July 7 referendum. Latvian citizens who live or will be abroad on that date now will be able to cast ballots at one of a total of 48 polling stations. The other 15 stations are those announced last week where citizens may apply for absentee ballots.

Polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. To vote, citizens must have a valid Latvian passport.

The sites for polling stations were recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The referendum will ask voters if they favor rescinding amendments made to the National Security Law and the State Law on Security Institutions. Both laws were amended by emergency decree in January by the Cabinet of Ministers while the Saeima was in recess. The Saeima subsequently approved the amendments, but then President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga vetoed the changes. She and other critics cited concerns about how the amendments could allow politicians access to sensitive information and threaten the country’s national security.

However, the parliament on March 1 overrode the president’s veto, so the president in a rare move invoked her constitutional right to suspend implementation of the amended laws. That forced a call for a national referendum, which now must go ahead despite the Saeima’s about-face in late March, when it rescinded the changes it had approved.

Critics of the the parliament and of the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis have suggested approval of the referendum would be a vote of no confidence in the politicians.

Absentee ballots

Citizens who live or will be abroad on the day of the referendum and who wish to vote by mail must apply from June 1-16 for an absentee ballot. The request should include the voter’s name, personal identification number (personas kods) and address where the absentee ballot should be sent. The voter also must submit their Latvian passport.

After June 16, the passport will be returned along with absentee ballot materials.

Absentee ballot requests may be sent to one of 15 diplomatic representatives:

• Australia (Adelaide): Honorary Consulate of Latvia, 648 South Road, Glandore 5037, South Australia, Australia.
• Australia (Melbourne): Honorary Consulate of Latvia, 2 Mackennel Street, East Ivanhoe VIC 3079, Australia.
• Belgium: Embassy of Latvia, 158 av. Molière, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
• Brazil: Honorary Consulate of Latvia, Rua Jacques Felix 586, Ap.12, 04509-002 San Paulo, Brazil.
• Canada: Embassy of Latvia, 350 Sparks St., Suite 1200, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 7S8, Canada.
• Denmark: Embassy of Latvia, 17 Rosbaeksvej, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
• France: Embassy of Latvia, 6 Villa Said, 75116 Paris, France.
• Georgia: Embassy of Latvia, Rezo Tabukashvili ielā 17, 380008, Tbilisi, Georgia.
• Germany: Embassy of Latvia, Reinerzstr. 40-41, 14193 Berlin, Germany.
• Ireland: Embassy of Latvia, 92 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
• Norway: Embassy of Latvia, Bygdoy Allé 76, Post Box 3163 Elisenberg, 0208 Oslo, Norway.
• Russia: Embassy of Latvia, ul. Chapligina 3, 105062 Moscow, Russia.
• Sweden: Embassy of Latvia, Odengatan 5, Box 19167, 104 32 Stockholm, Sweden.
• United Kingdom: Embassy of Latvia, 45 Nottingham Place, London W1U 5LY, United Kingdom.
• United States: Embassy of Latvia, 2306 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008, United States.

Voting in person

In addition to the 15 embassies and consulates above, which also will be open July 7 for voting, the Central Election Commission has announced polling stations will be established in San Miguel, Argentina; Vienna, Austria; Baku, Azerbaidjan; Minsk and Vitebsk, Belarus; Toronto, Canada; Beijing, China; Prague, Czech Republic; Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Bonn, Germany; Athens, Greece; Tel Aviv, Israel; Rome, Italy; Tokyo, Japan; Astana, Kazakhstan; Vilnius, Lithuania; The Hague, Netherlands; Warsaw, Poland; Lisbon, Portugal; Kaliningrad, Pskov and St. Petersburg, Russia; Madrid, Spain; Geneva, Switzerland; Ankara, Turkey; Kiev, Ukraine; Bradford and the Latvian rest home Straumēni at Catthorpe in the United Kingdom; Indianapolis and New York in the United States; Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Caracas, Venezuela.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Latvia continue to face discrimination and more than 400,000 people continue to live in the country without citizenship, the human rights organization Amnesty International says in its annual report issued May 23 in London.

While the Amnesty International Report 2007 took special aim at countries often condemned for human rights violations, the Baltic countries did not escape criticism. The report examines human rights violations worldwide during 2006.

Latvia was slammed for the July 19 decision by the Rīga City Council to ban the Rīga Pride 2006 parade for security reasons and for the lack of police protection during a press conference in support of gay rights activists. The report also notes that only after international pressure did the Latvian parliament pass a law banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Latvia also was criticized for the fact that more than 400,000 people, most former citizens of the Soviet Union, remain without citizenship.

“Statelessness implies, among other things, restrictions to trans-border movement and restrictions on political rights,” the report states.

Amnesty International’s report also notes that in November the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe invited Latvia to ease restrictions on the rights of minorities and to allow the use of minority languages in dealings with authorities in areas where minorities live in substantial numbers. The proposal from the assembly was similar to legislation put forward in late 2005 by the heavily Russian party For Human Rights in United Latvia (Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā) that would have made Russian an official language on the local government level. Latvian remains the official language at the national and local government level.

Estonia and Lithuania also were criticized in the annual report. As in Latvia, Amnesty International questioned Estonia’s respect for the rights of ethnic minorities and also noted violence against protesters during a gay pride march in Tallinn.

In Lithuania, it is sex trafficking of women and girls that remains a concern.

“In addition to being a country of origin for trafficking victims, Lithuania remained a country of transit and destination, primarily for women and girls from Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Kaliningrad region,” the report said.

Lithuania also was criticized for poor treatment of detainees in the country’s jails.