‘Prime minister’s chair remains empty’

Published on 28 November 2013 at 11:26

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Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis resigned on November 27, after the president of the republic Andris Bērziņš asked him to take political responsibility for the catastrophe in which 54 people were killed when a supermarket collapsed in Riga on November 23, writes Diena.

In its editorial, the daily notes that

… the Maxima tragedy resulted in a fundamental crisis of confidence in the entire apparatus of the state. […] And, more importantly, the public had not received a clear message that everything was being done at the highest level to facilitate the investigation, and to ensure that there would be no repeat of the accident. […] With his resignation, Dombrovskis has created a precedent for accountability on the highest level, and, let’s hope he has raised the bar for political responsibility.

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