Bookmakers estimate the chances of Egils Levits becoming re-elected as President of Latvia with a mere 40% probability. The possible victory of some other candidate is looking more likely – 60%, reports Betsafe public relations consultant Gabriela Ūdre.
Betsafe representative says this prediction is generally in line with what politologist Filips Rajevskis mentioned in interviews to various media outlets. He believes Levits may get votes from the National Alliance and New Unity, perhaps even Progressive Party. However, this is not enough to get re-elected, because in this case Levits would get 49 votes out of the necessary 51, said Ūdre.
This summer will mark four year for Egils Levits’ presidential term. Over the course of these years Latvia and the world have experienced the Covid-19 pandemic, the crisis that followed after, and the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war. All this definitely created challenges for Latvia’s president. Soon enough Levits will need to decide if he wants to run for a second term.
It should be said that four years ago then the president Raimonds Vējonis said he would not run for a second term. Levits was already a candidate at the time. He had to compete with Ombudsman Juris Jansons and politician Didzis Šmits. Levits won with 61 votes from Saeima deputies. Šmits received 24 votes, and Jansons received eight.
In the beginning Levit’s rating was at its peak, but over the course of these four years it has fallen dramatically to an all-time low – only 20% of the population in Latvia are positive about his presidency.
This is largely due to the pandemic, restrictions and the president’s rare public appearances.
It is possible the negative opinions may be partially related to Levits’ ambiguous statements that were picked up by the public on social networks. These include «I feel very well – I don’t feel anything’ and ‘the people who have died from covid won’t be having Christmas».
Levits still has not formulated a solid opinion about his possible candidacy. Krišjānis Kariņš, meanwhile, has already said he plans to support Levits for another term, stressing the good cooperation they’ve had so far. The Union of Greens and Farmers, however, considers picking its own presidential candidate.
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