Latvian gov't coalition takes FM to task over tweet criticizing rightist partner

Latvia's government coalition is taking Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics to task over a critical comment he wrote on Twitter about alleged ideological similarities between the ruling right-wing National Alliance and the opposition leftist Harmony party.

"I am not surprised about unanimity between the Harmony and National Alliance on the issues of morality, because their goal is not a free Latvia, but a totalitarian state ...," Rinkevics tweeted last weekend after the parliament education, culture and science committee endorsed draft legislation, proposed by an MP of the Harmony faction and calling for a ban in schools on materials that might be detrimental to students' morality.

Although Rinkevics' spokesman Martins Dregeris described the tweet as the minister's personal opinion, Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma told the press on Tuesday that she could not accept Rinkevics' comment by any means.

"I cannot imagine our coalition partner (National Alliance) moving towards totalitarianism," the Latvian premier said, adding that she intended to discuss the issue with Rinkevics in person.

Latvian Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnacs, who represents the National Alliance, said that this was not a "problem among coalition partners, but one minister's problem" and that the National Alliance would ask Rinkevics to clarify his position. The alliance also expects a public apology for such "harsh insults".

The National Alliance is not planning to demand Rinkevics' resignation, though.

The ruling centrist Greens and Farmers Union (ZZS) also noted that this was not the first time that the foreign minister "attacked" coalition partners and called on the coalition to address the issue at its next meeting, the justice minister said.

Latvian parliament speaker Inara Murniece, who is also a member of the National Alliance, released a statement saying that she knew Rinkevics as a "rational and capable politician" and that his tweet about the vote in the parliament committee had left her confused.

Rinkevics explained in an interview with Latvia's LNT commercial TV channel on Tuesday that he was "really surprised" and found it dangerous that such seemingly incompatible political groups like the National Alliance and Harmony had found common ideological ground when voting on the Harmony's proposal to ban certain materials in schools. Endit