Ašeradens: New Unity will block a coalition with Latvia First
Prime ministerial candidate Arvils Ašeradens told the Ir magazine that his party, New Unity, will block any attempt to form a governing coalition with the Latvia First party after the upcoming election. He said the party is still fighting for the votes of undecided voters.
Arvils Ašeradens, the prime ministerial candidate for New Unity, said in an interview with the Ir magazine that his party will not allow a coalition to be formed with the Latvia First party after the upcoming Saeima election.
The interview took place on August 28 in the garden of the Ir editorial office. Ašeradens noted that a significant share of voters — roughly 20 to 22 percent — still have not decided which list to support, and he said New Unity intends to keep campaigning for those undecided votes in the remaining time before the election.
A drop in the polls
Four years ago, New Unity won 19 percent of the vote in the election. The latest survey by SKDS, however, shows only 4.2 percent of respondents currently willing to vote for the party. That suggests Ašeradens is unlikely to become prime minister after this election, unlike the situation following the 13th Saeima election, when Krišjānis Kariņš — now a Member of the European Parliament — took the post despite New Unity holding only eight seats.
Despite the decline, Ašeradens spoke calmly about his party's falling support in the interview, stressing that the key takeaway from the polling is that New Unity's position appears to be stabilizing.
Sharper tone on coalition partners
Ašeradens' tone shifted noticeably when the conversation turned to potential coalition partners after the election, as well as the so-called "golden visas" issue. It was in this part of the interview that he stated clearly that New Unity will block any move to bring the Latvia First party into a governing coalition.
The interview is part of a series published by Ir ahead of the election, in which the magazine is interviewing prime ministerial candidates from six electoral lists whose support in polls exceeds four percent — the threshold that would allow them to enter the Saeima.
