United List earmarks Saeima posts for Smiltēns and Vējonis

Latvia’s United List plans to nominate Edvards Smiltēns as speaker of the Saeima, the country’s parliament, and former president Raimonds Vējonis as a deputy speaker, LSM reported. The party’s 41 lawmakers agreed at a meeting on Monday that it should hold two positions in the Saeima Presidium, the parliament’s leadership body.

Smiltēns has previously served as speaker. Vējonis, elected to parliament on the United List ticket, could become its second deputy speaker.

The Presidium has five positions. The other three are expected to go to Linda Liepiņa of Latvia First, Ināra Mūrniece of the National Alliance and Antoņina Ņenaševa of the Progressives. The arrangement could leave New Unity without a Presidium position, raising questions about its prospects of joining the next government.

New Unity’s nominee, incumbent Defence Minister Raivis Melnis, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate for that ministerial post in the next government. He is not a member of New Unity but has the confidence of Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs of the United List.

President Edgars Rinkēvičs has tasked Kulbergs with leading talks to form a government. The United List won 41 seats in the 15th Saeima election. Together with the National Alliance’s 10 seats, it would have a narrow majority; support from New Unity’s seven lawmakers would give it a broader base in parliament.

Latvia First won 17 seats, Sovereign Power/Association of Young Latvians 15, the National Alliance and the Progressives 10 each, and New Unity seven. Six political forces entered parliament, while the Union of Greens and Farmers fell short of the five percent threshold. It was the first time in the party’s 24-year history that it would not be represented in the Saeima. Turnout was the lowest in parliamentary election history, with 806,641 voters, or 51.79 percent of eligible voters, casting ballots.