Riga - The Latvian parliament on Sunday fired the head of the Baltic nation's anti-corruption agency. The parliament voted 52-40 to fire Aleksejs Loskutovs.
The centre-right government led by Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis on June 18 asked the parliament to fire Loskutovs for embezzlement in the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, the Baltic nation's anti-graft agency, known by its Latvian acronym, KNAB.
"The parliament's decision today is about KNAB's independence. It's about whether the Latvian parliament as an institution supports and endorses corruption," said Einars Repse, a one-time prime minister and former Loskutovs' critic from the opposition New Era party.
"We are not as bad as Nigeria or Zimbabwe ... however, we are not part of the African continent ... we have different standards," he said during the long debate in parliament.
In his four years as the head of KNAB, Loskutovs helped lift the former Soviet republic above European Union members like Greece and Poland in the anti-corruption rankings of the watchdog group Transparency International.
The accusations against Loskutovs came to light after two employees were accused of embezzling around 130,000 lats (290,000 dollars) from the agency. Loskutovs fired the employees Indra Veipa and Janis Imsa who remain under the investigation.
Holding placards with anti-government slogans, several hundred people protested for more than nine hours outside the parliament singing songs and demanding early elections.
Earlier this year, KNAB demanded the ruling People's Party return 1 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.
Former prime minister Aigars Kalvitis attempted to fire Loskutovs in September for allegedly misappropriating the money.
The government's move prompted sharp words from then US ambassador to Latvia Catherine Todd Bailey, urging Latvians to defend democratic values when politicians ignore them.
The government's move caused public uproar. Bowing to the public pressure, Kalvitis was forced to resign in December.
Dubbed "the umbrella revolution," Latvians flooded the centre square in the capital last autumn under wet snow armed with umbrellas, transforming Loskutovs from the head of the anti-graft agency into a symbol of public discontent over government's push to establish tighter control on the anti-graft agency and what they say its disregard for the rule of law.
The small Baltic nation of 2.3 million joined the EU and the NATO alliancein 2004.
