The coalition parties — New Unity, The Progressives, and the Union of Greens and Farmers — should have an honest conversation after adopting the budget to determine whether they can or cannot continue working together, President Edgars Rinkēvičs said in an interview with LTV’s Rīta panorāma on Thursday.
Asked whether the government led by Evika Siliņa (New Unity) will be able to work constructively until the elections, Rinkēvičs said that the first test will be the adoption of next year’s state budget. In his view, after that, the parties should speak honestly with one another — whether they can or cannot work constructively until the next elections.
According to the President, the most foolish thing would be to pretend to work for ten months while actually achieving nothing — a scenario that would ultimately harm both the country’s development and the parties themselves, which voters could judge critically in the upcoming elections.
Speaking about the widespread intolerance in society,
Rinkēvičs stressed that it cannot be blamed solely on the behaviour of politicians
— it is a problem affecting society as a whole. As for how to reduce it, he said there is no clear or simple advice.
The President suggested that surges of aggression may be partly linked to the spread of social media, where the seeming anonymity “gives courage” to some people to express themselves aggressively. At the same time, he urged people to remember that life does not take place only on social media — it also includes many other kinds of problems.
Rinkēvičs noted that as elections approach, exchanges of opinions may become even sharper.
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