United List Reveals Criteria for Choosing Coalition Partners

The United List (AS), which won the 15th Saeima election, has set out the principles it will use to choose partners for the next government coalition. The announcement came from Edgars Tavars, chair of the Latvian Green Party, which is part of the alliance.

According to Tavars, AS will invite those elected parties that are ready to agree on concrete work and to support the changes the country needs. He said there is no rush to form a coalition, as the newly elected deputies' mandates begin only in early November. A first draft of the government declaration is currently being prepared and will later be offered to potential partners for talks.

Planned talks

Prime ministerial candidate Andris Kulbergs intends to speak with the National Alliance and New Unity, though talks with other parties in parliament are not ruled out. Tavars stressed that no format of cooperation is being dismissed at this stage, and that a minority government cannot be excluded if no potential partner agrees to the planned work.

Edmunds Jurēvics, head of the New Unity Saeima faction, said no official talks with his party took place on Wednesday.

Government structure and faction leadership

Tavars acknowledged that, whatever the coalition's makeup, changes to the structure of government will be assessed, including the possibility of reducing the number of ministries. He declined to give specifics, saying the evaluation of how functions are divided and which reorganisation models are possible is still under way.

Several candidates are being considered to lead the AS Saeima faction, but current faction leader Juris Viļums will not take the post. The decision is to be announced next week. Viļums told the LETA agency he wants to contribute fully to AS's development and to represent the interests of Latgale. Reports have named Tavars, Edvards Smiltēns or Finance Minister Māris Kučinskis as possible leaders.

After meeting President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Kulbergs said AS would choose partners who agree to carry out the changes that, in his view, voters have given a mandate for. The president called for an effective government oriented toward a full four-year term.