Riga, August 14, LETA. In the official campaign period of the Riga City Council extraordinary elections until 13 August, nine parties have already exceeded 100,000 euros in various forms of campaigning, according to information compiled by the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB).
The New Conservative Party (JRC) has been the most active, having already spent 157,452 euros, which means that they have only 14,254 euros left to spend on campaigning, so as not to violate the spending limit of a certain campaign.
In second place is “Honor to serve Riga” (GKR), whose declared expenses amount to 155,998 euros, but in third place is the party “KPV LV”, which has spent 153,987 euros.
This is followed by the party association “Attīstība / Par! / Progresīvie”, which has declared expenditures of 123,116 euros, while the Latvian Russian Union has spent 113,212 euros, while the “New Unity” – 113,172 euros.
In sixth place in terms of expenses is the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), which has spent 107,065 euros, in seventh place – the national association “All for Latvia!” – “For Fatherland and Freedom” / LNNK / Latvian Association of Regions, “declared expenditure of EUR 105 623.
The Alternative party has spent 28,042 euros, while the Center Party has spent 2,613 euros.
The total amount for which the parties have concluded campaign agreements is EUR 1,166,443.
KNAB reminds that until the Riga City Council’s extraordinary elections, parties have a limit on how much money they can spend on advertising, charity and similar events. Each party may spend a maximum of EUR 171,706.89 for these purposes. On the other hand, the campaign spending threshold of a non-party person may not exceed 6450 euros.
LETA has already written that some parties had started advertising for the Riga City Council elections before the official campaign period came into force. Until the campaign period, the law does not provide for any campaign restrictions for parties. The costs incurred by the party in connection with the political advertising placed so far will have to be reflected in the annual report of the respective party for 2020.
The Saeima decided to dismiss the Riga City Council at the beginning of this year, while the extraordinary elections to the Riga City Council will take place on the last Saturday in August.
In the period from the day of the announcement of the election to the day of the election, restrictions and prohibitions have been set for parties to place and distribute pre-election campaign materials.
On election day, as well as 30 days before election day, the placement of pre-election campaign materials in electronic media television programs and broadcasts is prohibited.
On election day, as well as the day before election day, the placement of pre-election campaign materials in electronic media radio programs and broadcasts, in outdoor and indoor public use, in the press and in state and derived public institutions and corporations, as well as on the Internet is prohibited.
The use of administrative resources for elections is prohibited.
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