A lot has been said and written about politicians fuelling 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 should one defend oneself against defamation? Let’s explore the dos and don’ts by looking at the case of Latvian PM nominee Evika Siliņa.
Reactionary Sexism
Many political observers outside Latvia were surprised by the resignation of long-standing Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš. In Latvia, however, this was an expected move connected to changes in the coalition and Mr Kariņš’ future ambitions. What was surprising—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, Siliņa will not be the first female PM of Latvia. Laimdota Straujuma held that role from 2014 to 2016 as the first woman head of the government. Siliņa was nominated by her party on August 17th 2023. The same day, social media channels were flooded with judgements on her looks, temper, manners, past, private life and so on.
Sadly, this was nothing new for women in powerful positions. What was new and shocking was the headline of the story by the country’s main news outlet – DELFI – covering the nomination. It described Siliņa as “Zatlers’ girl ready to leave the shadow” implying in an unacceptable manner that she owed her career to ex-President Valdis Zatlers, despite her impressive 10-year political career, serving as the Minister of Welfare, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and previously to the Interior Minister.
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