The most important day of life – May 4 (“Dzirkstele.lv”, 04.05.2020) – Gulbene district – Dzirkstele.lv

In the mid-1980s, the first signs of the movement, which was later called the Awakening and the Singing Revolution, emerged in Latvia, which further led to Latvia’s independence. Gulbene County Museum of History and Art History Department reminds that the expanded plenum of Creative Unions in Riga on June 1 and 2, 1988 was historic. For the first time, the true history of Latvia in the 20th century was openly discussed from the podium. Mavrik Wolfson’s statement that in 1940 there was no socialist revolution in Latvia, but occupation, was significant. The meeting adopted a final resolution on democratic processes in Latvia. The next steps in regaining independence followed.

A two-thirds vote was required
On March 18, 1990, the Supreme Council elections were held. The Latvian People’s Front (LTF) declared that after gaining a majority in the elections, the main issue in the Supreme Council will be the restoration of Latvia’s national independence.

On the eve of the elections, Dainis İvāns called to support the LTF candidates: “Either consistently for the People’s Front, for its entire list, or for strengthening totalitarianism and party authoritarianism in Latvia. First of all – voting for democracy and the rights of our citizens, voting for the political and ethnic stability of our future country, which the old system could not and cannot give us, voting for Latvia to return to the economic and social traditions of a civilized country. Voting for the national harmony and unity of Latvian citizens.”

The LTF needed two-thirds of the vote to pass a declaration of independence with a majority vote. 81.25% of the population of the Latvian SSR participated in the elections of the Supreme Council. The LTF, together with supporters of independence, won 122 seats out of 201, or two-thirds of the parliamentary mandates.

3 deputies were elected from our current county, then district: Pēteris Gabranovs (1941-2007) from the 125th Dauksti electoral district; resident of Riga Pēteris Laķis (1952-2003) from the electoral district of the city of Gulbene (on March 18, 1990, the candidacy of Nikolays Stepanov from the city of Gulbene was also nominated for the Supreme Council elections, but he was not elected); Lower villager Sarmis Mednis (born in 1935) from the 126th electoral district of Lizum.

Work on Latvia’s declaration of independence began before the Supreme Council elections. Egils Levits, the current President, undertook to prepare the guidelines of the document. The working group that worked on the declaration of independence was headed by lawyer Roman Apsītis. On April 21, 1990, more than eight thousand local government deputies expressed their support for the declaration at the meeting of Vislatvija People’s Deputies in Riga, accepting the “Call to the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR and the Latvian people”, urging them to immediately decide the fate of Latvia.

We had done our homework
The newly elected Supreme Council met for its first session on May 3, 1990, organizational issues were on the agenda. The next day – May 4 – 201 members of the Supreme Council participated in the vote “On restoration of the independence of the Republic of Latvia”. With 138 votes “for”, 0 “against” (deputies not supporting the declaration did not participate in the vote) and 1 “abstentions”, the Supreme Council adopted the declaration. On that day, the foundations of Latvia as we know it today were laid.

Of the 3 deputies we elected, all of them, of course, voted “for”. Andris Apinītis (1957-2014), who was elected from the 105th Apes electoral district, is also considered one of his own, because after the end of his term as a member of parliament, he started working at the Gulbene branch of Unibanka at that time, and then also managed the Gulbene district.

Juris Zeibārts, head of the Gulbene branch of the LTF, shares his memories of the spring of 1990: “On this historic day, May 4, I was in Gulbene. I remember that the day was very sunny and warm and I listened to all the events that took place in Riga that day in the hall of the then Supreme Council on the radio, but I think there was also a live broadcast on LTV. This was also done by many in their workplaces and to some extent even counted the results. The people of the then Gulbene district had already done their homework. On March 18 of that year, we had elected three deputies whose loyalty to Latvia was in no doubt. All this had happened with the support and blessing of the members of the LTF, as the meetings for the nomination of candidates for deputies were directed and managed by the local LTF in various companies and institutions of the district. This was only the first step to build a free country. Figuratively speaking, pouring the foundations does not mean that the house is ready. You have to build your own, free country, and this is still happening today. Yes, there were no such manifestations in Gulbene as in Riga – this is only logical, because everything happened right there, and in the end, nothing was planned. True, everything happened spontaneously in Riga as well, but we could be proud of the fact that all the preparations were prepared for it.” As for the fact that there are few testimonies and memories of these events in Gulbene, J. Zeibarts emphasizes that it was not important to document something at that time. At that time, emotions and future plans were important.
“The weather conditions were changeable, but good,” S. Mednis, a villager from Lejas, briefly and concentratedly says 30 years later about May 4, 1990. He is the only one of the three members of the Supreme Council who were elected from the Gulbene district, who is in the ranks, who remembers and can tell this history. He will soon celebrate his 85th birthday. The phone call of “Zzirkstele” reached him on April 29 at the wheel of the car. S. Mednis stopped aside to talk to “Dzirksteli”. He said that with the care of his wife Inta Balodes, he visited the cemetery, laid flowers on the resting place of his colleague P. Gabranova, because it was his 79th birthday on that date. They always went to the meetings of the Supreme Council together with Pēteris, who, like A.Apinītis, was also a member of that convocation and voted for the independence of Latvia. At that time, S. Medņas’ closest associates were two more members of the Supreme Council – Ivars Caune from Mālupe parish and P. Laķis from Riga, who was elected from the Gulbene constituency. I think every year on May 4, S.Mednis is with these people. Today, he says about this significant date – it was the most important day in his life, because the independence of the country and the recovery of land properties followed. It was thrilling to go out into the streets afterwards and be with the people.

“He was firmly convinced of his position,” describes S. Medni, Guntis Blums from Daukstein, who was a People’s Deputy of the USSR 30 years ago and was present at the legendary May 4th meeting of the Supreme Council in Riga. The culmination was at the moment when the voting results were announced loudly, naming each member and his vote by name. There was great concern as to whether it would be possible to vote for the restoration of Latvia’s independence, because the LTF faction had only 131 members, but 132 votes (2/3 of members) were needed to have a majority. It remains to be hoped that an independent deputy from the “Equality” faction will join. In the vote, 138 were in favor, 1 member abstained, 57 did not participate in the vote, demonstratively leaving the meeting hall. G.Blūms says – applause was immediately heard both in the meeting hall and outside the building of the Supreme Council, where people had gathered, waiting for the voting results.

– Gatis Bogdanovs, Diāna Odumiņa, Ginta Alberte