Kulbergs' Government Talks With National Alliance Advance Despite Dispute Over Posts

Talks on forming a government led by Andris Kulbergs of the United List (AS) with the National Alliance (NA) moved forward over the weekend, even though disagreements over the distribution of ministries and Saeima committees had earlier threatened a deal. Latvian Television's programme "De facto" reported this on Sunday, 15 November. Kulbergs announced that an agreement on cooperation has been reached and called on partners to nominate candidates for the posts of interior, welfare and culture ministers on Monday.

Dispute over areas of responsibility

The NA was unhappy with the distribution offered by the AS and wanted greater influence, including one of the economic ministries. The AS initially offered the NA the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Welfare, plus three Saeima committees. The NA wanted the chance to take over, for example, the Ministry of Economics or the Ministry of Agriculture. The split of committees also caused discontent, as did a condition that Edvīns Šnore would not chair the National Security Committee.

The NA also sought guarantees that the AS would not strike a deal with the party "Latvia First" (LPV), led by Ainārs Šlesers, which in the NA's view was being offered too many Saeima committees.

Agreement reached

Until the end of the week, the only concrete agreement was that NA representative Jānis Dombrava would remain interior minister in the new government. Late on Friday evening the talks produced a broader deal, which also gives the NA control of the Ministry of Culture. The NA negotiating team plans to present it to the party's board, which must make the final decision.

Šlesers has expressed readiness to support the Kulbergs government, and at least some LPV deputies would do so, including himself. At the same time, he has criticised the NA, blaming it for loud scandals in the past and for problems in the insolvency sector.

Māris Kučinskis, head of the AS parliamentary group, had earlier stressed that the most important thing is to build a government on stable foundations that can work in the long term. The aim had initially been to form the government close to the state holiday, but the NA's wait-and-see stance and the disputes over posts slowed the process.

Kulbergs continued talks with the NA, although he had earlier also met the New Unity party and the Progressives. Andris Šuvajevs, a representative of the latter, said it had long been clear that the government would be built with the NA and with Šlesers' votes.