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RIGA, Nov 13 (LETA) - The Riga City Council at an extraordinary meeting today rejected the opposition's proposal to dismiss Riga vice mayor Linda Ozola (Code for Riga).

Ozola's dismissal was supported by 25 lawmakers from Harmony, Latvia's Union of Russians, Progressives and two independent lammakers - Jakovs Pliners and Andris Morozovs.

Meanwhile, 26 lawmakers from the coalition faction voted against the proposal -New Unity, National Alliance/LRA, For Latvia's Development, and Code for Riga, as well as independent lawmakers Laima Geikina (For) and Ivars Drulle (For).

The coalition partners from Honor to Serve Riga did not participate in the vote.

In order to maker the decision on Ozola's dismissal, 31 lawmakers should support it.

The request for Ozola's dismissal was submitted by the Progressives faction of the Riga City Council.

The Progressives justify this request by the need to use municipal resources more efficiently and thoughtfully, "especially in this challenging budget planning period".

The post of vice mayor of the Riga City Council, which involves security, anti-corruption and transparency functions, costs the municipality around EUR 130,000 a year, the group said, arguing that similar functions are already provided by the City Council Committee on Security, Order and Corruption Prevention, which aims to address these issues.

The Progressives argue that it is necessary to assess whether the duplication of this position's functions in the municipality is justified.

"It is currently unacceptable for the municipality to spend hundreds of thousands of euros on duplicated functions, while the competences of a council committee could be effectively carried out by a single head of department. There needs to be a single political responsibility for this sector and this is a step that shows the willingness of the municipality to work more efficiently," says the faction leader Viesturs Kleinbergs.

The Progressives said earlier that the post of a second vice mayor was artificially created to balance the distribution of positions in the ruling coalition, which is unacceptable and should be abolished.