Kulbergs still gives no clarity on next coalition after second round of talks
Prime minister candidate Kulbergs criticised the New Unity party and the Progressives for poor preparation after the second round of talks, while praising the National Alliance. A third round will most likely take place after the national holidays.
Latvia's government formation continues: prime minister candidate Kulbergs, who represents the United List (AS), on Monday wrapped up the second round of talks with potential coalition partners. He met the New Unity party (JV), the Progressives and the National Alliance (NA), but did not yet clarify what the next coalition will look like.
After meeting JV and the Progressives, Kulbergs complained that both parties were not sufficiently prepared and had not offered concrete enough solutions for cutting budget spending. He called the NA the best-prepared negotiating partner so far, saying it had come with a number of proposals on both the economy and national priorities.
Fiscal challenges
Kulbergs said the AS had presented the NA with its view of the changes needed and of the country's fiscal challenges through 2030. He stressed that new political promises cannot be fulfilled without putting public finances in order, and noted that Latvia is no longer in a situation where growing budget revenue can be shared out. In his view, the key question is which political forces will be ready to jointly take responsibility for unpopular but necessary decisions, and to tell the public openly which promises have no financial backing.
What happens next
The AS will now assess possible cooperation models, while each party needs to discuss potential compromises within its own leadership and parliamentary group. The third round of talks will most likely take place after the national holidays. Kulbergs promised to set out the AS view of public finances in more detail in a presentation at the Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday at 12:30. So far he has not publicly detailed which sectors and what savings the AS plans.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs tasked Kulbergs with forming the new government after the 15th Saeima convened. Kulbergs earlier expressed hope of presenting a model of the new Cabinet by mid-November. The scenarios mentioned so far are an AS partnership with JV and the NA, an AS and NA government, or an AS minority government.
