Businessman and prime minister candidate in the last Saeima elections from the Combined List political party Uldis Pīlēns, according to Latvijas Avīze, promises to announce plans for presidential candidacy after Easter.
Pīlēns has been mentioned as one of the main candidates for this post for a long time. However, so far AS has yet to reveal whether or not he is their official candidate, stressing that the party will pick someone other than Latvia’s President Egils Levits.
Saeima speaker and one of AS leaders Edvards Smiltēns confirmed to Latvijas Avīze that the party did offer Pīlēns to run in presidential elections, but he has yet to respond.
It should be mentioned that Pīlēns is not the only potential candidate considered by AS.
The candidate himself said he will announce his decision after Eastern. He did not say if he plans to run in elections or let someone else do it instead.
Pīlēns did say he would rather not link presidential elections to the government’s stability, which, according to Latvijas Avīze, may mean the next president could be elected with votes from the opposition as well. On top of that, it may not be a person agreed upon by the coalition. Candidates for the presidential position will be allowed to be submitted to the Saeima Praesidium between the 9th and 13th of May.
Recently the leader of Latvia in First Place Ainārs Šlesers announced he might support
Pīlēns because he sees a way for Krišjānis Kariņš’s government to fall after elections.
The National Alliance, which picked Egils Levits as the presidential candidate in the previous elections, has plans to meet with the president this month. Then it will be clear if the party and the president have similar plans. Currently Levits lacks support in the Saeima to secure re-election.
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