On 2 November partners of the coalition that is being formed in the Latvian government – New Unity (JV), Combined List (AS) and National Alliance (NA) – agreed on the signing of the cooperation memorandum, as announced by JV leader Krišjānis Kariņš after meeting with representatives of the two other parties.
Parties plan to sign the cooperation memorandum on Thursday, 3 November. Kariņš said the agreement on the distribution of ministries among members of the coalition is the next step. Negotiations may happen on the same day.
Once the memorandum has been signed there will be clarity about the responsibilities among members of the coalition, said Kariņš. According to him, politicians have yet to discuss this topic.
The government declaration is the next step, followed by nomination of minister candidates. The final step is the Saeima vote.
We are close to making the first major step, but we have to keep in mind that so far we have put a great deal of effort into discussions about the cooperation memorandum. We have also spoken a lot about the topic that is part of the government declaration, said Kariņš.
NA representative Jānis Dombrava said ‘it was a very good idea – to sit at one table’, because this helped discussions about the text of the memorandum pass much faster. Parties have similar views on many topics, said the politicians. He mentioned as an example that strategic state assets will not be subject to privatisation.
«We have an understanding, only everyone glanced at others with suspicion, expecting them to understand it differently,» said Dombrava.
Now politicians have a very difficult road ahead of them to develop the government declaration, which is expected to include many reforms and innovations to assist with the country’s development, said NA’s representative. After today’s negotiations about the memorandum, he said he is optimistic that it will succeed.
Kariņš stressed that all three political parties are prepared to work for the benefit of Latvia’s development and security.
He said he cannot predict how low it might take to compose the government declaration. He only said politicians are prepared to work hard to ensure it happens as soon as possible.