Latvian parliament committee weighs State Audit Office reviews

Latvia’s parliamentary Committee on Public Administration and Local Government began considering whether to allow the State Audit Office to audit the parliament’s spending on Wednesday, LSM reported. Lawmakers are reviewing three proposals that differ in the scope of the audits.

All three proposals would remove the current exception for parliament and allow the State Audit Office to examine its expenditure. The Latvia First proposal would permit financial audits, while the Progressives want the office to assess whether spending is efficient and matches its intended purpose.

The Union of Greens and Farmers proposal would allow audits of the parliament’s budget revenue and expenditure, as well as its handling of state property. Under that version, the parliament’s own committees would remain responsible for assessing the efficiency of spending.

The committee did not have a united position on the issue. Although all parliamentary groups have publicly supported allowing the State Audit Office to audit parliament’s spending, some lawmakers raised objections during the committee meeting.

New Unity lawmaker Raimonds Čudars said parliament’s spending must be transparent but argued that oversight should be carried out by parliament itself, which is accountable for its political decisions to voters rather than to the State Audit Office. He said the office’s involvement could create a risk that political decisions, such as the system of compensation for lawmakers, would also be assessed.

United List lawmaker Ingmārs Līdaka also questioned the need for the changes. He said independent sworn auditors already conduct sufficiently thorough financial audits of parliament, leaving the assessment of spending efficiency as the main unresolved issue.

The issue of granting the State Audit Office powers to audit parliament has been discussed repeatedly but has not previously won majority support among lawmakers.