United List leaders surprised by provisional 42-seat result

The United List was surprised by its provisional result of 42 seats in Latvia’s 15th Saeima, the country’s parliament, its representatives told Latvian Radio and Latvian Television, LSM reported.

Edgars Tavars, one of the political force’s leaders, said it had not expected such a strong result and that the seats brought “enormous responsibility.” The United List would have no excuses for failing to deliver on its promises, he said.

Asked what had secured the result, fellow leader Edvards Smiltēns said the party’s approach of calling things by their proper names may have resonated. “An open conversation is the way to resolve commitments,” he said.

Tavars said the United List had a good working relationship with the National Alliance. Talks on forming a coalition were still to come, including whether to work with a single partner or individual lawmakers. The party would focus on economic development and national security, he said.

Smiltēns said the first round of government-formation talks would be with the current coalition partners. He also called for a review of parties’ campaign promises and decisions on which commitments could be dropped, with budget discussions focused on what the state could afford.

Before the new Saeima convenes, Smiltēns said, the outgoing parliament should avoid costly fiscal decisions. “There must be no farewell gifts from MPs that the state cannot afford,” he said.

Turnout in the election was 51.81%, with 807,067 eligible voters casting ballots, according to the Central Election Commission. Based on results from all 1,059 polling stations, turnout was the lowest recorded in a Saeima election.