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Roundup: Latvian president starts consultations with political parties on next gov't

Xinhua, December 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Three of the six political parties represented in Latvia's current parliament met with President Raimonds Vejonis on Thursday to discuss work on a new government, which has to be put together after Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma announced her resignation earlier this week.

Two outgoing coalition partners, the center-right Unity and the centrist Greens and Farmers Union (ZZS), said after Thursday's consultations with the president that they would prefer the existing tripartite coalition, which also includes the right-wing National Alliance, to remain unchanged and form the new government.

The parties' representatives, however, declined to name their candidates for prime minister.

The left-wing Harmony party, which until now has remained in opposition even though it has the largest faction in the parliament, expressed readiness to form the new government in ten days, adding that without them the government forming process will be flawed.

Unity leader Solvita Aboltina described the meeting with President Vejonis as successful. The party and the president agreed, for instance, that the creation of a predictable and stable taxation policy would be one of the most important jobs for the next government.

Unity intends to start negotiations on the new coalition government's makeup with other parties represented in parliament, except Harmony, soon, Aboltina said.

Aboltina, who is considered one of the most likely candidates to head Latvia's next government, admitted that there are mixed opinions about her political reputation, but stressed that the "government must be led by a person capable of taking decisions and explaining them to the people."

ZZS representative Augusts Brigmanis also voiced support for the existing coalition, but did not rule out cooperation with smaller opposition parties.

"The existing coalition is the optimal combination, which in our view should continue running the country also in the future. Of course, if such a necessity arises in the course of the negotiations, we are open to talks also with other political parties -- For Latvia from the Heart (NSL) and the Latvian Bloc of Regions (LRA). But the three [existing] partners must remain the core of the coalition," the ZZS representative said.

Armands Krauze, also of ZZS, said that the Unity should assume the leading role in forming the new coalition and government, but that ZZS could propose four possible candidates for prime minister if necessary.

President Vejonis is scheduled to continue his consultations with political parties on Friday when he will meet with representatives of the National Alliance, LRA and NSL.

Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma announced her resignation on Dec. 7. Enditem