RIGA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- An inquiry into Latvian Prosecutor General Eriks Kalnmeiers' job performance is likely to be started at the initiative of the ruling New Conservative Party which has gathered 34 lawmakers' signatures necessary to start the procedure, local media reported Thursday.
The initiative, which eventually can lead to Kalnmeiers' removal, has yet to be approved by the parliament.
Under the Latvian law, the chief justice of the Supreme Court is obliged to launch the assessment of the prosecutor general's job performance if it is requested by at least one third of the parliament. The assessment is carried out by a Supreme Court judge authorized by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
The petition calling for the inquiry into the prosecutor general's job performance has been signed by MPs from various parties of the ruling center-right coalition.
Justice Minister Janis Bordans announced on May 17 that he had lost confidence in Kalnmeiers and accused him of a failure to clamp down on money laundering. He also called for an assessment of the prosecutor general's job performance.
The Justice Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office are both authorities in charge of keeping the Latvian financial system in line with international anti-money laundering standards.
Bordans claimed that Kalnmeiers'"attitude and activities threaten the implementation of the recommendations" provided to Latvia by the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (Moneyval) and thus also the "financial and economic stability" of Latvia, because a failure to comply with the Moneyval recommendations would entail serious reputational consequences for the country.
Meanwhile, Ivars Bickovics, chief judge of the Supreme Court, said in May that he did not see sufficient reasons to start assessing Kalnmeiers' performance.
