It seems the vote for Latvia’s new president may also be a vote for a new government, said National Alliance (NA) board member Uģis Mitrevics in an interview to TV3 programme 900 seconds.
“It does seem like this, and it is a source of worry for the National Alliance and the political environment in general. Residents are asking questions if words and actions are two separate things.
This is why I would say this rhetorical question is on the agenda,” said the politician.
He said partners of the coalition are more ambitious than NA, but the party is not angry. Instead the party is more confused than anything else.
Mitrevics stressed that when the government was being composed the topic of the president of the country was not a point of discussions – no one promised anything to anyone.
The politician said in an ideal situation the president should not come from the political arena.
Mitrevics said the president needs to be “superhuman”,
to come from the people. In this case the person needs to have superhuman capabilities with all the best qualities. “This is how NA sees it – values, posture, symbol, business card, carrier of family values. This makes NA ask the question whether there is such a person among the available candidates,” said Mitrevics.
The Saeima deputy refrained from predicting whether his party might vote for any of the candidates, as the situation changes by the hour and there may be all kinds of turns.
When asked if New Unity’s presidential candidate – Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs – is elected with votes from the opposition, the NA decides to leave the coalition, Mitrevics said that when it comes to the government or coalition, there are three options available. One option is preserving the existing coalition even though the “scars from the government formation process still haven’t healed”, said Mitrevics.
The other option is for all three parties to switch to work in the opposition. And the third option is to work in a new coalition, but in this case the coalition needs to explain “why you are here and what principles led you to this new coalition”. Mitrevics said NA considers option three as the least possible option.
According to him, the coalition’s stability should be put above any individual goals, because “freezing healthcare, education and tax reforms and other topics would be unfair towards residents”.
As previously reported, all three presidential candidates: Combined List founder and businessman Uldis Pīlēns, Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs and public management expert Elina Pinto meet all the requirements listed in the Constitution and Law on the Election of the President and can run for presidency, as admitted by the Saeima’s Mandates, Ethics and Submissions Committee.
Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš calls talks about possible changes to the ruling coalition with the Union or Greens and Farmers and Progressive Party as “baseless speculations”.
When asked If ZZS or Progressive party could join the government after elections, Kariņš said: “You’re asking me to speculate about the future.”
When asked if existing coalition parties – JV, AS and NA – could start looking for a new presidential candidate if no president is elected on the 31st of May, the PM said he did propose that to both coalition parties previously, but they rejected it.
This is why JV will work to secure support in the Saeima for their candidate – Rinkēvičs.
Also read: New Unity’s half-secret meeting with opposition puts coalition partners on edge