Nothing personal, just politics

A lot has been said and written about politicians fueling hate speech during campaigns or in their daily political activities, but what happens when a politician becomes a target of a defamation and hate campaign themselves? How to defend oneself against defamation and score in communication? Let us explore possible do’s and don’ts on the case of Latvian PM nominee Evika Siliņa.

Many political observers outside Latvia were surprised by the resignation of long-standing Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš. In Latvia this was an expected move connected to changes in the coalition and Mr Kariņš’ future ambitions. What was surprising and even shocking for Latvia’s society was a wave of sexist comments about the nominee for next PM, Evika Siliņa. If voted in by the Parliament, she will not be the first female PM of Latvia. Laimdota Straujuma served from 2014 to 2016 as the first woman head of the government. Siliņa was nominated by her party on August 17^th. The same day, social media were flooded with judgements on her looks, temper, manners, past, private life and so on. Sadly, this was nothing new for women in the top positions. What was new and shocking was the headline of the story by the country’s main news outlet – DELFI – covering the nomination. It branded Siliņa as “Zatlers’ girl ready to leave the shadow” implying in an unacceptable manner that she owed her career to ex-President Valdis Zatlers, even though she has had an impressive 10-year political career, serving as the Minister of Welfare, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and previously to the Interior Minister.