Two days after the parliamentary elections in Latvia, President Egils Levits has started talks with the seven parties that have been elected to the Saeima parliament. The head of state of the Baltic EU and NATO country first met Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins’ victorious liberal-conservative Jauna Vienotiba party. He then spoke to representatives of the other parliamentary parties.
Levits, who has the mandate to form the government, said after talks that he had authorized Karins to start preliminary talks with potential allies about a possible coalition, the government model and their priorities. According to the head of state, this is not yet an official nomination for the post of prime minister. A coalition of three or four parties is possible. It is important that there is a “reform government” that initiates structural reforms, emphasized Levits.
In the parliamentary elections on October 1, Karins’ party received by far the most votes. Like the CDU and CSU, the Jauna Vienotiba party belongs to the EPP group in the European Parliament. She announced that she would like to hold initial talks with potential partners on forming a government on Tuesday and Wednesday.
