RIGA, Dec 23 (LETA) - Members of Jelgava Regional Council on Thursday suspended Liga Lonerte as the local government's executive director pending a disciplinary probe into her allegedly unlawful activities, the council's spokeswoman Dace Kanepone told LETA. 

Jelgava Regional Council gathered for a meeting just hours before the end of working day to vote on seven council members' proposal to open a disciplinary probe against Lonerte and suspend her from office pending the investigation. 

The seven members of Jelgava Regional Council allege that Lonerte gave the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry false information about the replacement of her deputy in charge of legal affairs and that her communication with the ministry should therefore be assessed in a disciplinary probe. 

As reported, earlier this week, seven regional council members signed a petition to call an emergency meeting to propose a vote of no confidence in Lonerte. The council members are dissatisfied with her work, claiming she has given misleading information and conducted wasteful spending of municipal funds.

The long-time chairman of the Jelgava Regional Council Ziedonis Caune (Latvian Farmers' Union), who plans to step down after municipal budget is passed ''due to political pressure'', said that the allegations against Lonerte have little to do with rational justification, but rather are taken out of context, exaggerated and, in general, easily justified. He believes that the action is deliberately aimed at achieving a different kind of political influence throughout the municipal administration.