There is no fight to speak of between members of the new coalition – New Unity (JV), Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) and Progressive Party (PRO) – in regards to the distribution of responsibility over various sectors, said prime minister candidate Evika Siliņa in an interview to Latvijas Radio.
She said parties have started informal discussions about the distribution of responsibilities over various sector of the economy. There are sixteen posts on the table.
According to what the politician said, JV will have proportionally the biggest amount of responsibility, ZZS is next, and Progressive Party, as the smallest faction, will have the smallest number of seats.
There is no real fight among coalition parties, said the PM candidate, adding that parties are unified in the search and that each party can delegate their best people for the job.
According to the politician, ZZS will not get the defence or foreign affairs ministry. She did not say if Krišjānis Kariņš could become the next Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Previously there was no talk of distribution of seats because there were attempts to create a wider coalition with the Combined List (AS) and National Alliance (NA).
Siliņa believes Saeima speaker Edvards Smiltēns (AS) will not be replaced this week.
The prime minister candidate reminded that priorities of the new government will be domestic and external security, improvement of residents’ quality of life and the business environment.
The new government will have to immediately tackle problems related to distribution of electricity and changes with operations of commercial banks.
Progressive Party’s Saeima faction leader Kaspars Briškens told LTV programme Rīta panorāma that among the standing priorities is the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and “setting the foundation” for regulations for cohabitation of same-sex couples.
He was evasive when asked about the possible distribution of seats in the new government.
“Seats will be distributed, there is no doubt about that,” added the politician.
When asked if there are members in the Progressive Party prepared to take the reins over healthcare, Briškens said this particular sector cannot be viewed in the context of a single party. He added all coalition parties should take shared responsibility over this sector. The party does have strong candidates for this sector. One of them is Edgars Labsvīrs.
Briškens did not say if he could become a candidate for the post of Latvian Minister of Transport.
The leader of Progressive Party believes the new government will be approved by mid-September.
Also read: Progressive Party wants small government declaration with specific tasks