Riga, July 8, LETA. The Riga City Council rejected the demand of the opposition party "Latvia First" (LPM) for the dismissal of Mayor Viesturs Kleinbergs ("Progressives"). Twenty-four deputies from the opposition factions LPM, "For Stability!" and "Sovereign Power/Young Latvians," as well as independent deputies Mairis Briedis and Valery Petrov, voted for Kleinbergs' dismissal. Thirty-three deputies from "Progressives," "New Unity," the National Alliance, and the "United List" voted against the mayor's resignation. The inclusion of this issue on the agenda of the council meeting was initiated by LPM, indicating that the situation with the meat pavilion of the Riga Central Market reflects prolonged and negligent management. Riga residents have been at risk for six years, as the structural elements of the building were in a state of emergency and pre-emergency. Additionally, during the pre-holiday period, traders were forced to cease operations without prior warning, leading to downtime and significant financial losses. According to LPM, the council leadership has been informed about this situation since 2020, and the mayor has been aware of it since his first day in office. However, no measures have been taken in the past year to improve the condition and development of the meat pavilion. In LPM's opinion, the mayor did not respond to the situation in accordance with his duties, allowing the crisis to worsen. Discussions about the resignation of the mayor of Riga lasted about four hours, with opposition deputies primarily speaking. The rapporteur on this issue at the council meeting was LPM deputy Ainars Slesers. Given that the coalition rejected the proposal to appoint Kleinbergs as Slesers' co-rapporteur, the session of questions turned into Slesers' speech about business development ideas in Riga, ranging from the development directions of the Central Market to the development of the Riga Zoo, where Slesers proposed to build a hotel. The main criticism Slesers directed at the mayor was the lack of a common vision and development plan for Riga. In his opinion, the council needs a business plan for how to develop the capital and increase revenues. Kleinbergs, for his part, listed completed and initiated works, such as the construction of new rental residential buildings, schools, and the extension of the tram line in Kengarags. In the area of road safety, the current council has done more than was accomplished in the previous ten years, the mayor emphasized. Kleinbergs also sees results in improving social services, repairing crumbling bridges, enhancing public transport, and implementing other projects.