Next week political parties in Riga should come to a clear consensus on the formation of a new coalition in the city council, said New Unity (JV) member, acting Mayor of Riga Vilnis Ķirsis.
Par/Progressive fully agree with JV’s vision and the two sides agree on various important tasks and priorities, including the housing policy, transport infrastructure and the transition to teaching in Latvian language at schools. This is why Ķirsis is positive about today’s meeting.
At the same time, each bloc – JV, National Alliance/Latvian Association of Regions (NA/LRA) and Kods Rīgai (KR) on one end and PP on the other –
still have opposition opinions in regards to the “coalition model” or the number of vice-mayors. Ķirsis said JV is prepared to accept a compromise in this.
Later, however, Progressive faction’s leader Mārtiņš Kossovičs once again mentioned that his party’s commitment to not propose its own mayoral candidate is a significant step towards a compromise, leaving it instead to other three parties.
This is why the Progressive party expects similar compromise moves from partners in Riga City Council.
PP has invited KR and NA/LRA to attend mutual talks on Thursday, the 27th of July, and Friday, the 28th of July.
After numerous four-party meetings this week, Ķirsis said the new coalition has yet to reach a spirit of compromise.
NA/LRA faction politician Edvards Smiltens criticised his colleagues in PP, accusing them of “stalling for time”. He says NA/LRA would rather see the situation advance faster.
KR politician Jānis Ozols mentioned he is not optimistic about the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting. The dialogue did not progress because each side – the three-party core and Progressive party – remained each with their own interpretation of causes of this crisis, he said.
JV, NA/LRA and KR propose signing a memorandum with PP in which parties would agree on the most important tasks, including the reinforcement of Riga’s Latvian identity and use of EU funding. The purpose of the document is reaching an agreement on Riga City Council’s coalition and the most important tasks to be completed in the city.
This week parties will work on the text of the memorandum.
Also read: BNN ASKS | VARAM will not intervene in Riga City Council’s internal conflict, minister hopes