Businessman and Combined List party founder Uldis Pīlēns, according to certain politicians, would have a higher chance of winning presidential elections if President Egils Levits decides to run for presidency as well.
This is possible because three opposition parties – Union of Greens and Farmers, Latvia in First Place and For Stability – have antipathy for Levits due to some of his previous statements or political position.
Latvia’s President Egils Levits still has not decided if he wants to run for a repeated term.
If there are no “major developments” before elections, some politicians do not exclude the possibility of electing Pīlēns in the first round of votes on the 31st of May. The Combined List, Union of Greens and Farmers, Latvia in First Place and For Stability have 50 votes together. This is why it is unclear how it is possible to secure 51 votes to elect the founder of AS as Latvia’s president.
Theoretically one “decisive” vote could come from previous For Stability member and currently non-party Saeima deputy Glorija Grevcova. She previously said she plans to follow on social media and evaluate all possible candidates.
One example of a “major development” that could change the course of events is the possibility of European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis becoming a presidential candidate. However, other politicians say Dombrovskis has mentioned having no plans to run for president. He also said it would not benefit Latvia if the country decided to rotate its representatives in the European Commission.
A theoretically possible alternative for Pīlēns would be if New Unity and Union of Greens and Farmers, perhaps even Latvia in First Place, agreed on some “compromise” candidate.
Currently it is unknown if this possibility could become a realistic scenario.
One other possible presidential candidate is deputy NATO secretary general for diplomatic affairs Baiba Braže. This, however, depends if she decides to take this step. The director of NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence Jānis Sārts is also mentioned as a potential presidential candidate as well.
Members of the Combined List see no reasons for “concerns” about political balance if Pīlēns is elected president, which means the Combined List would have both the Saeima speaker’s and state president’s post. The party assures that Pīlēns is not a member of any party, and if he is elected president, he will be politically neutral.
This week Pīlēns announced that he has decided to run for presidency. He is the first presidential candidate to announce his plans. Pīlēns explained the decision was made after giving it some serious thought.
More on this topic: Latvian ruling coalition has yet to approve any presidential candidate