Cooperation between the parties Harmony and For Stability in the upcoming local election, especially in Riga, is not ruled out, LETA has found out.
In the last Saeima elections, For Stability took the place of the party representing at least a part of Russian-speaking voters in the Saeima, while Harmony went from being the party with the most seats to not even breaking the 5% threshold to be elected to the Saeima.
The most significant difference, at least in public rhetoric, has been in the parties’ positions on the war in Ukraine – Harmony condemned the aggressor state immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine, but For Stability still avoids a specific position. There is also a significant difference in the parties’ vision of the role and importance of the European Union. However, with local elections approaching, the possibility that the political forces could either run together or cooperate after being elected to the Riga City Council cannot be ruled out.
No decisions have been taken yet, but negotiations are ongoing.
Nils Ušakovs, the leader of Harmony and a member of the European Parliament, told LETA that the party will not yet make any decisions on the party’s lists and on its participation in the upcoming elections, but that a wide range of negotiations are taking place.
He stresses that voters are pointing to the need for party unification, as the current political offer is too fragmented. Asked whether Harmony could run together with For Stability in the elections, Ušakovs pointed out that negotiations are taking place with different partners and the political process is about talking to everyone. Asked whether Harmony is really talking to everyone, including, for example, the National Alliance or New Unity, the politician did not give a positive answer.
Meanwhile, when asked about a possible agreement with Harmony on a joint run in the Riga City Council elections, For Stability leader Aleksejs Rosļikovs told LETA that he had always believed that political forces should unite.
Politics should not be based on the principle of like or dislike – political forces must unite to recover the capital’s municipality from the failed management of Unity and Riga Mayor Vilnis Ķirsis, Rosļikovs said.
It would be wrong to fragment the electorate today, Rosļikovs stressed. He admitted that talks on possible cooperation were ongoing, but no decisions had been taken.
In the political circles, it is suggested that these two parties might also want to cooperate with the Latvia First party led by Ainārs Šlesers. Ušakovs, when asked whether the political force is considering such a move, did not give a concrete answer, while Rosļikovs was sceptical. He believes that Šlesers is going to cooperate with the Unity party in Riga and will never have a state secrets clearance, which would prevent Šlesers from becoming mayor of Riga.
Rosļikovs pointed out that he was not ready to support the Riga Waterfront project, which was being promoted by Šlesers and which would require billions of euros of municipal funding to provide infrastructure. If Šlesers was prepared to give this funding to the residents instead of the project, then negotiations on cooperation could start, the politician added.
The leaders of both political forces had also spoken about possible cooperation between Harmony and Latvia First in 2023, also mentioning the need for political unification. At that time, both denied that any decisions on cooperation had been taken.
Rosļikovs was once a member of Harmony, being elected to the Riga City Council on the party’s list, but later he and the party parted ways. Meanwhile, Ušakovs worked with Šlesers in the Riga City Council, when Ušakovs was mayor of Riga and Šlesers was his deputy.
Latvia First is currently one of the most popular parties nationally, trailing only New Unity and the National Alliance in the October rankings. On the other hand, Harmony and For Stability have similar popularity levels, falling below 5% in October.