President Rinkēvičs satisfied with pace of forming new government

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs told journalists on Wednesday that he is satisfied with the pace of work on forming the next government. He spoke after meeting Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs of the United List (AS), which won the parliamentary election. Government formation is now under way following the 15th Saeima election, in which AS took 41 seats and became the largest force in parliament.

Rinkēvičs said everyone wants a government that serves its full four-year term. This, he noted, requires careful work on the government declaration, which will form the basis for discussions on the make-up of the next cabinet. Since he knows the declaration is being drafted, he said he has no grounds to doubt the process.

According to the president, once Kulbergs formally lays down his and the current government's powers before the new Saeima and a presidential decree is issued naming him head of the next government, the workload on assembling the cabinet will increase.

Positions of the premier and parties

Kulbergs said earlier that a schedule of meetings with the newly elected Saeima factions is due to be published on 19 October. For now, he said, the talks concern substantive priorities rather than the distribution of posts. He named state finances, economic growth, stronger security and public administration reform as priorities. The government must first agree on what it will do, and only then on who will do it. A first draft of the declaration is to be passed later to potential partners.

Edmunds Jurēvics, head of the New Unity faction, said his party respects the AS initiative to lead consultations and is ready to take part once invited. Edgars Tavars, chairman of the Latvian Green Party, which is part of AS, said partners will be assessed on their readiness to agree on tasks and reforms. He added that no format is ruled out, including a minority government.

Rinkēvičs earlier expressed hope that significant progress in coalition building would be visible by early November, with the government ideally formed by 18 November.