Latvian Political Monitor

Have you ever participated in an SKDS survey? I have, and it goes like this: You receive an email invitation to fill out a survey that will take about 10 minutes, for which you will receive a certain number of points for reward coupons. The survey, for example, is about coffee drinking habits, but among these everyday questions, a question about who you will vote for in the Saeima elections is also slipped in. There is no direct indication that this will be a political survey, so the respondent cannot choose whether to fill it out or not. So these 'point collectors', who earn coupons by clicking through questionnaires, ultimately determine the public's overall opinion and party ratings.

🇬🇧🇮🇪 These channels are also freely watched by Latvians in England and Ireland. I've heard about quite a few English countryside folks who watch Kiselyov, drink rum, and are ready to go to war against 'Ukrainian Nazis'. Thank God @Ivars_Abolins had enough political courage to close this information conduit in time; I remember how @NellijaL opposed closing Russian information resources because it was supposedly 'censorship'. #Āboliņš

@JuAivars @drCHADMDD @AndrisKulbergs @EvikaSilina would grow more if there were deeds and results, but now instead it will fall and the election result will be much weaker than it could have been, which in turn will complicate life further, but those are their problems...

@mansviedoklis1 @Kuskis @AndrisKulbergs @EvikaSilina None. They promised some extravagant idea, but I guess the idea was stupid, so zero work, zero decisions, time goes by.

@drCHADMDD @AndrisKulbergs @EvikaSilina that is very understandable

@Janis1983 I don't see that Vienotība has prevented anything. It seems the problem is the head of government/blogger himself.

@drCHADMDD @AndrisKulbergs @EvikaSilina everyone sets their own goals and tasks as agreed in the coalition. The question is - who is able to fulfill their goals and tasks, and who only comments that everything is shit and crap. They weren't that politically easy for Siliņa, given her coalition composition etc.

☝️ I want to reveal the secret of why 'Dombrava works, but ratings don't grow' and why Jaunups has become more popular than ZZS and will now 'get into the Saeima'. ❗️ The key is the chosen polling method. Both the July and August SKDS party polls were conducted online, a method used less by pensioners and rural residents, but where Riga's beer-guzzling residents are hyperactive. This is not a reproach to Arnims Kaktiņš, who is a private entrepreneur and can conduct whatever polls he wants. This is a reproach to @lsmlv, which hides its chosen polling method from its viewers. #IzrādāsArīTāVar

@Arteiko @NormundsKuplens Hi! I recognized you

"Most popular parties", "public mood"... But in reality - a closed database of people who earn coupons for clicking questionnaires. This is how SKDS ratings are stamped in Latvia, with which the media then feeds the people. Public opinion must not be determined by a bubble of coupon earners.

The storm showed - when electricity disappears, mobile communications can also disappear. I propose creating a national-scale backup 2G network based on @Sadalestikls infrastructure - for simple voice calls in crisis situations. It doesn't need fast internet, but stable coverage!

For professionals, the first months of a government are an opportunity for productive, big decisions, and active work, because usually then there is still a large credit of trust from the public and media, good relations in the coalition, everyone is full of energy, etc. Kulbergs has not been able to use this time usefully. He merely flows with the stream and comments on what he sees (though in education there are significantly harmful, erroneous decisions that will affect everyone).

It's quite funny that @AndrisKulbergs in his first 100 days won't have done anywhere near as much as @EvikaSilina did in her first 100. Lowering the bar like that is a skill.

🎙️ The first LTV pre-election debates have taken place in Latgale! Jaunā Vienotība was represented there by Rihards Kozlovskis, convincingly discussing the issues important to Latgale and all of Latvia. Watch the debates and choose Latvia's future! 🇱🇻 https://t.co/XbxyqBFUuF

Dear @ltvzinas and @DagnijaNeimane! In the report, it would have been correct to clarify what survey method was used this time - whether an employee walked around apartments, made phone calls, or collected opinions online. That would reveal which groups of society were addressed more and which less.