Riga City Council member and leader of the Latvia First (LPV) party Ainārs Šlesers announced he will run in next autumn’s parliamentary elections.
In an interview with Latvian Television’s program Morning Panorama, Šlesers admitted he decided to run because he failed to join the ruling coalition in Riga. He implied that opposition work was not what he had aimed for, so now he intends to fight for victory in the parliamentary elections, seeking to unite the part of Latvian society dissatisfied with the current situation.
“In Riga we won, but unfortunately the coalition was formed not to achieve something, but against Šlesers,” the politician stated, stressing that his main task will be to secure LPV’s victory in the parliamentary elections.
Šlesers will also be the party’s candidate for prime minister.
Previously, in an interview with news agency LETA, Šlesers had claimed that he would not run in parliamentary elections but would serve only as the party’s prime ministerial candidate, expressing confidence at the time that he would become Riga’s mayor. “I do not plan to run in parliamentary elections. I do not plan to be any minister. But the prime minister’s position is the highest office in the executive branch, and that is the only condition, because I believe that my becoming prime minister would help Riga develop even faster,” Šlesers declared shortly before the municipal elections.
Read also: Study reveals: Who is really Latvia’s most popular next Prime Minister?