New Unity’s prime minister candidate Krišjānis Kariņš will not have any problems in composing the new government. It doesn’t matter who many parties will be included. However, in half a year’s time political parties part of the ruling coalition may fall apart due to internal conflicts, said political technologist Dans Titavs in an interview to Diena.
He believes that New Unity is not as united as it may seem. This much was confirmed at the Sunday, 2 October, meeting of the party’s board, where the decision was made to not appoint deputies not elected to the Saeima for seats in ministries. This is basically a slap across the face for Latvia’s current Minister of Finance Jānis Reirs. Titavs noticed signs of muscle-flexing between the former New Era wing, members of Valdis Zatlers’ Reform Party and the liberal wing also known as «Meierovics’ umbrellas».
The political technologist predicts putting together a big faction in the Saeima will be a very difficult task.
«I cannot imagine who could compose a 26-man New Unity faction – they don’t have that kind of authority. It is a very difficult task.»
«Leading a faction with eight deputies, which is something they have now, and a faction with 26 deputies are two different tasks. The moment those elected deputies understand the topics, the weight of their Saeima deputy positions, we will see what is commonly known as ‘appetite comes with eating’. New Unity is not as unified as it seems – they have many different wings,» said Titavs.
«Right now Zatlers’ wing and Reirs are the conditional winners, whereas Krišjānis [Kariņš], [Ainars] Latkovskis and others are the losers. But this doesn’t mean the fight is over,» adds the expert.
According to him, New Unity leader Kariņš will not have any problems with forming a government together with the Combined List and National Alliance. Whether the Progressive Party is added is a question of time, and it is not a decisive factor.
«New Unity is prepared. They are in a euphoric post-election state etc. Future posts will be resolved soon – there are no problems there,» said Titavs.
«Problems will start in six months, when they will have to think about Presidential Elections in Latvia and hold the coalition together.»
«Everything will be in order. New Unity will have seven ministers, National Alliance will get theirs and so will the Combined List – each will get two ministries. But internal splits will appear in about six months,» Titavs predicts.
The political technologist believes that the Combined List may be struck by internal conflicts after some time, and the faction will start dividing. He reminded that Einars Repše’s party had once got 26 seats in the Saeima, which is a considerable number. However, when the post-election euphoria faded, the government fell apart.
«It should be no surprise that both [Andris] Šķēle and [Ainārs] Šlesers decided at the time: ‘Eh, let him be in charge, we’ll overthrow him in a year!’ And that is exactly what they did.»
Titavs also said that President Egils Levits wants to see a wider coalition only because it would ensure his re-election next year.
«The only one who needs help is Levits himself. He needs help becoming president again. The reason why I’m saying Levits’ game is simple and foolish is because [Combined List leader Uldis] Pīlēns wants to become president,» Titavs shares his opinions.
«Pīlēns wants to become president because he thinks the presidential post is a king-level position that would let him regulate everyone and everything.»
Also read: Latvia’s PM: we can form a stable government, but I’m not sure everyone wants that