Author: Ilona Bērziņa/BNN
Three months prior to European Parliament elections the National Alliance overtook New Unity as the new leader in Latvian polls. Progressive Party overtook For Latvia’s Development – the party is now in fourth place, according to results of a study by SKDS ordered by LTV. Politologist Filips Rajevskis told BNN that the private flights scandal involving ex-PM Krišjānis Kariņš is to blame for New Unity’s popularity crisis.
National Alliance’s rating, on the other hand, went up because of the lack of scandals involving this party.
“One of Unity’s biggest problem at the moment is the scandal involving flights used by Krišjānis Kariņš, which still overshadows everything they do. He is the ex-PM, one of the biggest leaders of the party. In the last elections he was a celebrated member of New Unity and their prime minister candidate, but now he’s the party’s biggest problem,” said the politologist.
Filips Rajevskis stresses that there is a very small possibility of New Unity not getting any seats in the EP elections.
“They still have Valdis Dombrovskis as their Nr. 1 candidate, and his personal ratings are very high. Dombrovskis factor guarantees Unity one seat. Of course, anything can happen – there are three more months to go. Nevertheless, Dombrovskis’ image is very strong in any case.”
As for National Alliance moving up to first place, the politologist says the main contributing factor is that so far there hasn’t been any negative information about this party in the public space – this benefits the party. Harmony can thank Nils Ušakovs for their 0.5% drop in popularity. “Ušakovs remains a known brand in the eyes of his voters. He remains more popular than his party, and this works in his favour,” says Filips Rajevskis.
When asked if Progressive party’s rating going up by 0.2% and landing in fourth place with 5.6% gives offers them some hope for at least one seat in the European Parliament, the politologist said that the existence of this party depends on New Unity, because voters of both parties are divided between them. There is also For Latvia’s Development to consider as a potential candidate between the two. “They may get one seat, but the question is which party’s voters come to vote in the end.”
Commenting on the 2.4% rating of the Union of Greens and Farmers, Filips Rajevskis says that the European Parliament has never been particularly interesting for this party. “Because this is the European Parliament’s pre-election rating, I believe it will reflect rather indifferent attitude from this party’s voters,” said the politologist.
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