In accordance with President Egils Levits invitation, this week New Unity held in-depth with potential coalition partners – Combined List, National Alliance and Progressive Party – about the future government’s priorities for the next four years.
As New Unity leader Krišjānis Kariņš said after talks held on Thursday, 13 October, his party has found both similarities and differences in opinions with potential partners on various topics.
Last week New Unity’s politicians started inviting Progressive Party to coalition formation talks. Both parties agreed that they stand in favour of rule of law and respecting rulings of the Constitutional Court. The main disagreements are related to budget-related topics.
According to New Unity leader Krišjānis Kariņš, opinions differ in topics related to the budget deficit.
Progressive Party, on the other hand, is prepared to put aside ideological differences if it is allowed to work in the coalition, said the party’s leader Kaspars Briškens after his meeting with New Unity.
After meeting with representatives of the Combined List, Kariņš said both parties share views on foreign policy, national economy, as well as tax policy – both political parties admit the tax system must not be bothered in the middle of a crisis.
There are also different areas in which New Unity and Combined List have different opinions. New Unity, for example, does not agree with Combined List in regards to proposed changes to the Constitution in regards to the established election system. The Combined List, on the other hand, does not approve of New Unity’s position in regards to the need to pass the Civil Union Law and ratify the Istanbul Convention.
New Unity has the same difference of opinions with the National Alliance.
New Unity believes rulings made by the Constitutional Court must be respected, and the best course of action would be passing the aforementioned Civil Union Law. According to New Unity’s leader ‘it is ready for the third reading – all that’s left is to pass it’. National Alliance is of a different opinion.
More on this topic: New Unity and National Alliance argue over social topics; NA still insists on three-party coalition
New Unity’s leader plans to meet with President Egils Levits again on 17 October to report on the progress made with the formation of a new coalition, as Kariņš told journalists.