Latvia's sacked mayor reinstated

Gatis Truksnis, who last month was sacked as mayor of Latvia's seaside resort city Jurmala amid allegations of his involvement in illegal party financing, was voted back into his previous position on Friday.

The Green Party, which is one of the two principal members of Latvia's ruling Union of Greens and Farmers, responded to this by saying it would expel Truksnis for such a disgraceful return to office.

Truksnis' re-election was achieved when a council member from the opposition leftist Harmony party unexpectedly voted for the reinstatement.

The Jurmala city council dismissed Truksnis as mayor in a vote on Oct. 13 because of suspicions that he might be involved in violations of party financing rules.

At the beginning of October, officers of the Corruption Prevention Bureau raided Truksnis' office and home and detained him along with three other people, including well-known millionaire businessman Julijs Krumins.

The anti-corruption bureau said at that time that Truksnis, Krumins and two other individuals were being probed for violations of party financing regulations.

It also turned out that Truksnis had moved into an apartment in a posh house built by Krumins in Jurmala. The businessman confirmed this on public television, saying he had personally offered the apartment to the mayor, which raised further suspicions. Endit