None of the three candidates were elected in the first or second round of presidential election in the Saeima. Nevertheless, so far it seems that New Unity’s candidate, Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs is in the lead with 42 votes.
45 Saeima deputies voted against him. Combined List political party’s candidate Uldis Pīlēns received 25 votes in favour and 62 votes against. Progressive Party’s faction candidate Elīna Pinto received 10 votes in favour and 77 votes against.
The Union of Green and Farmers (ZZS) voted for Rinkēvičs. ZZS Saeima faction leader Viktors Valainis mentioned before debates: “Honoured colleagues, we have made our choice and today we will vote for what we believe – the most appropriate candidate for this post. We made this choice together with our heads of municipalities, and we are united in this choice.”
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The meeting of the Saeima dedicated to the state president’s elections unavoidably commenced with a serious test for residents who decided to watch and listen to this event via livestream. Before the start of the most time-demanding and complicated part – the voting with ballots – some of Saeima’s deputies climbed the tribune to present their various opinions as to what they expect from the new president.
Three factions limited their turns to the presentation of opinions from their respective chairmen. New Unity’s Ainars Latkovskis invited others on behalf of his party to vote for Edgars Rinkēvičs
During debates, Latkovskis’ speech was the only one who dedicated to support of the minister of foreign affairs.
Raivis Dzintars announced from the Saeima tribune his previous promise: “The National Alliance faction has decided, and our united decision is that we are not prepared to give our trust to any of the existing candidates. At the same time, we hope to gain this trust in the future. More importantly – we hope this trust will be gained by as many Latvian residents as possible.
ZZS faction leader Viktors Valainis said the choice is made, adding that “we need a president who is prepared for active work from day one both externally and domestically…”
Multiple members of the Combined List (AS) and Latvia in First Place (LPV) voiced support for AS candidate Uldis Pīlēns. At the same time, LPV members Ainars Šlesers, Linda Liepiņa, Vilis Krištopans and For Stability! faction leader Aleksejs Rosļikovs criticised AS for not really fighting for their candidate, even abandoning him.
In response to this criticism, Saeima speaker Edvards Smiltēns said: “The election process will be transparent. We will know the names of the deputies and how they voted. Then we will see who made deals, who bought and who sold.”
Progressive Party deputies continued claiming that their candidate Elīna Pinto is the best candidate. They said knowledge of foreign languages and her ability to turn to the audience with a convincing and inspiring speech very quickly are her best traits.
Though during debates there was no shortage of colourful comparisons and sharp reproaches towards political rivals, generally the procedure was cautious – none of the candidates were really criticised.