On Friday, 27 April, one hundred young people will gather at the Saeima in order to learn about the everyday work of the legislature through personal experience and defend their ideas from the rostrum.

Would-be members of the Youth Parliament competed with their ideas on ways to facilitate Latvia’s growth and were elected by public vote. The most fierce competition was in the Riga constituency, where 64 candidates fought for 30 seats in the Youth Parliament. Altogether, 196 young people applied for elections of the Youth Parliament, and a total of 5,747 votes were cast for their ideas.

In the Youth Parliament, all regions of Latvia will be represented proportionally to the population of each region. Information about members of the Youth parliament is available at the official website of the Youth Parliament www.jauniesusaeima.lv under the section Kandidātiem (For Candidates).

In the morning of 27 April, members of the Youth Parliament will convene for the first plenary sitting held at the Plenary Chamber in order to approve their mandates and establish committees. The plenary sitting will be chaired by Speaker Solvita Āboltiņa, and four young people will act as other members of the Presidium.

Ideas presented by the youths are incorporated in four draft declarations which will be considered by the members of the Youth Parliament during the committee meetings and the second plenary sitting of the Youth Parliament. Members of the European Affairs Committee will discuss on how to use the opportunities offered by the EU more efficiently, and members of the Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee will consider promotion of a healthy lifestyle. The Education, Culture and Science Committee will talk about proposals regarding formation of a modern education system while the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee will consider how children and youths can contribute to sustainable economic growth.

After the committee meetings, the second plenary sitting of the Youth Parliament will be held; during the sitting, the young people will consider proposals for amendments to declarations.

It is also planned to establish a parliamentary group for cooperation with the United States which would consist of youths who participated in the essay contest. Members of this group will visit the U.S. Embassy in Riga on 2 May.

At the end of the event, the most active and politically advanced members of the Youth Parliament will be awarded the title of Future Politician.

The Youth Parliament is organised by the Saeima in cooperation with Transparency International department in Latvia Delna and the Children’s Forum of Latvia. Publicity is provided by the social network Draugiem.lv and Latvian Television. The event is also supported by the European Commission Representation in Latvia and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

It is possible to follow the project on social networks such as Draugiem.lv, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The official website of the Youth Parliament is www.jauniesusaeima.lv.

The previous Youth Parliament was held on 3 June 2011.


Saeima Press Service