Political parties Kods Rīgai (KR) and Par/Progressive (PP) factions in Riga City Council have different views as to why the ex-Mayor of Riga Mārtiņš Staķis lost his post, as journalists were told by KR politicians Linda Ozola and Māris Mičerevskis after a meeting between the two parties held on Monday, the 31st of July.
During these talks the two parties concluded they have different views about the causes for the ongoing political crisis. PP believes Mārtiņš Staķis was overthrown,
whereas KR are convinced that he decided to step down on his own, Ozola said.
According to her, this difference of opinions is dictated by political behaviour models and the three-party block on one side and PP on the other.
It is important for the new coalition to be similar to he current coalition of change, so that it is not a “coalition of vengeance”, in which politicians hurt one another, said Ozola. It is also important to understand ways to resolve conflicts of opinions between the three cor parties on one end and PP on the other.
When asked if they can work in the same coalition with PP, KR politician Mičerevskis said he hopes it is possible, adding at the same time that this is a difficult question and that it largely depends on whether parties can distance themselves from issues like “who owns the house” in mutual relationships.
Progressive Party is unlikely to have problems talking with KR, but the question is whether PP can talk with other core parties, said Mičerevskis.
He compared it to a wedding – that before holding one in a church, it is first necessary to understand what the relationship is, because at the moment parties are still unsure whether they want to commit.
Both KR politicians stressed that a policy in which all the power in concentrated in a single party’s or a single person’s hands cannot be formed. Ozola said that if no proposed vice-mayor posts are created in the new coalition, it will be necessary to think about a different system to balance out relations between various sides.
All factions of the previous coalition in Riga City Council have announced none of them are interested in snap elections. This is why instead they have organised negotiations to agree on future cooperation.
The split happened after a conflict with the evaluation of work done by Riga City Council’s Transport Department. Mārtiņš Staķis announced his decision to step down as mayor in the midst of this conflict. Following the report from the investigative committee the disciplinary case against officials of the Transport Department was ended with no results.
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