Riga - With the Latvian parliament preparing to oust an anti-graft czar, fears are growing about the future of an agency that has been fighting corruption in the small Baltic nation. In an unusual move, parliament has scheduled an ordinary session for Sunday for what is likely to be a debate on the future of Aleksejs Loskutovs, the embattled head of the anti-graft agency Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB).
Outside the parliament, opponents of the move plan to set up a picket line to show gratitude to Loskutovs and the agency for their work in battling political corruption in the former Soviet republic the past five years.
Its work helped to lift Latvia above above such other European Union members as Greece and Poland in the anti-corruption rankings of the watchdog group Transparency International.
"What is at stake is the independence of KNAB," Lolita Cigane, an anti-corruption expert at the Providus Centre told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa. Loskutovs has been defending the independence of the EU- backed agency from political influence, she said.
The centre-right government led by Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis decided to ask parliament to fire Loskutovs for alleged negligence in managing the agency after two employees were accused of embezzling around 130,000 lats (290,000 dollars) from the agency.
Loskutovs fired the employees.
Government critics acknowledge Loskutovs' responsibility, but say the decision to fire the former law professor is inconsistent in a government where no minister has yet to lose his job over mismanaged finances.
The critics also say the parliament should delay voting on Loskutovs until the investigation into the embezzlement is complete.
Since being appointed to the position in 2004, Loskutovs, 45, headed the agency as it investigated high-profile cases of bribery of elected officials in the seaside resort town Jurmala outside of Riga.
It also participated in the investigation and arrest of the mayor of the transit seaport town of Ventspils, Aivars Lembergs, on charges of the embezzlement, which he denies.
Earlier this year, the agency demanded the ruling People's Party return one million lats (2.3 million dollars) to the state coffers over violation of the campaign finance laws leading up to the 2006 parliamentary elections, making Loskutovs a target for political attacks.
This is Loskutovs' the second run-in with the government in less than a year.
Circumventing the proper legal process, the former prime minister Aigars Kalvitis attempted to fire Loskutovs last September for allegedly misappropriating public funding. The government's move caused a public uproar. Bowing to public pressure, Kalvitis was forced to resign in December.
Dubbed "the umbrella revolution," umbrella-toting Latvians flooded the centre square in Riga in wet snowy conditions last autumn, elevating Loskutovs into a symbol of public discontent over the government's push to establish tighter control on the anti-graft agency and what they say its disregard for the rule of law.
