On May 8, in the State Administration and Local Government Commission of the Saeima, deputies will evaluate the amendments to the Law on Administrative Territories and Settlements before the first reading.
Initially, the amendments to the law envisaged only one change – the long-planned connection of Varakļani and Madona counties, but there have been proposals for a much broader revision of the last administrative-territorial reform, for example, abandoning the connection of state cities with nearby counties and dividing a number of recently created counties.
The draft law under consideration by the commission indicates that Varakļani County in its existing administrative territory does not meet the goal of the administrative territorial reform and the criteria for the establishment of counties included in the annotation of the Law on Administrative Territories and Settlements. Also, there is no development center in Varakļani district, and it is also the smallest district in terms of population.
In order to promote the sustainable development of the territory, as well as taking into account the results of the public consultation organized by the municipality of Varakļļani district, the bill envisages merging Varakļani district with Madona district.
Varakļani county is the only municipality whose merger with one of the neighboring counties remained an unresolved issue.
Although the initially responsible Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM), evaluating the goals of the administrative territorial reform, planned to merge Varakļani district with Madona district and the residents of the district also expressed this desire in several surveys, the previous, 13th Saeima decided to merge it with Rēzekne district. The Constitutional Court recognized that the decision of the 13th Saeima does not comply with the basic law of the country, therefore the Cabinet of Ministers, evaluating the goals of the administrative territorial reform, prepared a proposal for the 14th Saeima on the administrative territory of Varakļani County.
It is expected that the law will enter into force on June 30 of this year in order to regulate the continuation of the work of the municipality of Varakļani district and the municipality of Madona district until the municipal elections of 2025, as well as to determine the procedure for the conduct and announcement of the 2025 municipal elections in relation to the administrative functions of Varakļani district and Madona district. territories.
Representatives of VARAM, Varakļani County Council, Madona County Council, Latvian Association of Local Governments, Association of Large Cities of Latvia, Saeima Legal Office will take part in the commission meeting.
The meeting will take place in the meeting hall of the State Administration and Municipal Commission at Jēkaba street 16.
