Janis Bordans

During the meeting with Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis on Wednesday, June 27, the National Union (NU) proposed their candidate – Janis Bordans – for the post of Justice Minister. A political agreement has been reached about his candidacy and the candidacy of the lawyer Aigars Lusis for the post of Parliamentary Secretary to the Justice Ministry, as the Prime Minister and the leader of the NU Raivis Dzintars both confirmed after the meeting.

The appointment of Lusis to the post of secretary of the Justice Ministry can create a wedge between the two coalition partners, as the information from Pietiek portal states. Nonetheless, Dombrovskis pointed on Wednesday that Unity will not be politically engaged in the approval of this official because it is within the competency of the next Justice Minister.

It was Bordans’ candidacy that was mentioned by Unity representatives during informal consultations as the most appropriate Justice Minister.

Meanwhile, the choice of candidate for the post of JM parliamentary secretary can keep the tension between the NU and Unity because the lawyer Aigars Lusis is proposed for this post. His candidacy was previously slowed for the post of Krajbanka insolvency administrator by the largest coalition partner, hoping to preserve political influence over this process.

According to unofficial statements from politicians, it seems that they are counting on something: Unity will not be satisfied with Lisis as a person whose duties will be ensuring communication between the parliament and the Justice Ministry. And this is the exact goal of this choice – to put a person on the post of secretary to the Justice Ministry, who is prepared to express and not hold back from opposing the «big brother», which would allow the NU to establish a political foothold.

Before the Wednesday meeting with Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, the NU had reviewed three possible candidates for the post of Justice Minister – Bordans, Lusis and Baiba Broka because each of them had support from different branches of the NU.

Bordans was chosen as the most promising candidate considering events of summer 2010: when the coalition with the Greens’ and Farmers’ Union had difficulty of agreeing upon Bordans candidacy after the People’s Party left politics for good. Bordans was given a special position of parliamentary secretary, the responsibility of which included justice issues. At the time, Bordans was a member of the Civil Union party, but left it after its fusing with Unity; he then formed the Democratic Patriots association along with his confederates. Some association representatives started out from the list of the National Union during the 11th Saeima elections, and Bordans ended up in the new governments as the parliamentary secretary to the Justice Ministry.

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