Foto: BB.LV / Кулбергс
The formation of the new government of Latvia has not yet reached the stage of final agreements. The candidate for the position of Prime Minister, Andris Kulbergs ("United List"), will not continue meetings with potential coalition partners in a public format until the end of this week. This was reported to the LETA agency by the politician's communication advisor, Elina Shverna. She did not provide additional details about the progress of the negotiations. ### The first round is over, the second is not yet This week, Kulbergs completed the first round of official consultations with parliamentary parties. The last meeting took place on Monday with representatives of the party "Latvia First" (LPM). After that, the prime ministerial candidate promised to hold the next round of negotiations. Potential partners also stated that they expect the continuation of consultations, where the future government's program can be discussed in more detail. However, no public meetings are planned until the end of the week. At the same time, it is specifically about the absence of negotiations in a public format: the message does not imply that all political consultations have completely ceased. ### Three possible scenarios for forming the government On Tuesday, Kulbergs stated on Latvian television that none of the options for creating a new Cabinet of Ministers is currently excluded. Three main scenarios are now being discussed: 1. A coalition of the "United List," the National Alliance, and "New Unity." 2. Cooperation of the "United List" only with the National Alliance. 3. A minority government of the "United List," which would rely on support from the party "Latvia First." None of these options has yet been formalized into a final political agreement. ### The main question is where to find the money One of the central themes of the negotiations has been the financial situation of the state. According to Kulbergs, during the first round of consultations, he tried to determine whether the parties are willing to abandon election promises that do not have financial backing. The prime ministerial candidate expects to receive more definite answers in the second round of negotiations with the factions of the Saeima. At the same time, several participants in the consultations noted that Kulbergs' proposals for reducing expenses are still not specific enough. Thus, one of the main obstacles to reaching a coalition agreement remains not only the distribution of ministerial positions but also the future budget policy. ### The government is expected to be formed by national holidays Kulbergs expressed hope to present the model of the new Cabinet of Ministers by the national holidays in mid-November. At the same time, he rejected assumptions that the distribution of positions in the Presidium of the 15th Saeima already indicates the composition of the future coalition. In particular, "New Unity" did not receive a position in the Presidium, while a representative of the party "Latvia First" took one of the posts. According to Kulbergs, it is premature to draw conclusions about future government partners from this. ### The budget may be adopted only in January The formation of the government is directly related to the preparation of the state budget for the next year. Kulbergs admitted that under the most favorable circumstances, the Saeima could adopt the budget in mid or late January. He intends to present the budget project along with a broader package of changes, the development of which will require additional time. ### How the seats in the new Saeima are distributed After the elections to the 15th Saeima, the parliamentary mandates were distributed as follows: | Political Force | Mandates | | ------------------------------------------------ | ------- | | "United List" | 41 | | "Latvia First" | 17 | | "Sovereign Power/Young Latvians Union" | 15 | | National Alliance | 10 | | "Progressives" | 10 | | "New Unity" | 7 | | Total | 100 | The President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, tasked Kulbergs with forming a new government after the convening of the 15th Saeima. Back in early October, the head of state expressed the opinion that this politician should be entrusted with forming the Cabinet of Ministers. Now Kulbergs has to find a model of cooperation that will ensure sufficient support for the government in the parliament and allow for the alignment of budgetary policy.
