After the meeting held by Riga City Council factions Par/Progressive Party (PP) and New Unity (JV) on Tuesday, the 11th of July, acting Mayor of Riga Vilnis Ķirsis said that the spirit of compromise and cooperation has yet to be born on a political level.
During the meeting politicians discussed the way work will be organised in the transition period, because PP members are in charge of multiple committees in Riga City Council – the Social Affairs Committee, Housing and Environment Committee, as well as Education, Culture and Sports Committee. Because PP has no representation on the level of vice-mayor, as well as to exclude the possibility of a “silent phone”, an agreement was reached to discuss the topic during coordination meetings. Such a meeting is scheduled for Thursday, the 13th of July.
Ķirsis confirmed that discussions about a political agreement were held, but there is still no spirit of compromise to speak of. “We will continue talking, and hopefully we will be able to reach an agreement,” hopes the acting chairman of the city council.
He said that
PP wanted to continue mutual political negotiations with JV politicians.
However, JV says that negotiations will not be productive if other coalition parties, as well as Kods Rīgai and National Alliance/Latvian Association of Regions, do not participate. “Three city council factions will coordinate work and consult with each other this week, whereas PP wanted to wait this week. It is planned for the next round of negotiations on Tuesday, the 18th of July,” said Ķirsis.
As previously reported, PP faction has said they are not interested in holding snap elections. The party believes parties should continue talks to agree on the city council’s work in the future. According to PP, the primary topic in negotiations is “returning to good management and economically responsible decisions”. Once an agreement has been reached in this topic, it will be possible to discuss the distribution of seats.
“Voters have entrusted to us making Riga an open, European and organised city. In political negotiations, faction members always keep this duty in mind. We believe changes in Riga are possible if they are based on collegial, open and transparent policies,” said PP faction chairman Mārtiņš Kossovičs.
Representatives of other factions have all said previously that they are not interested in snap elections. They plan to hold negotiations to agree on future actions.
As previously reported, after the conflict over the evaluation of work done by the Transport Department, the ruling coalition in Riga City Council split. Mayor of Riga Mārtiņš Staķis even announced his resignation, washing his hands of the mess. The mutual conflict between Progressive Party and New Unity, along with exchange of accusations, only further soured the situation.
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