Kulbergs says coalition talks will test parties’ readiness to drop unworkable promises

Andris Kulbergs, the current and potential next prime minister, says he will assess which parties are willing to abandon unworkable promises during government formation talks, LSM reported. He plans to speak with all parties but said it was important to have fewer disputes within the government.

Kulbergs said he believed he could resolve disagreements, pointing to difficult decisions made during his first four months in office. He said the next four years would require clear resolve and considered steps rather than speed, adding that mistakes should be identified and corrected.

He said he did not want to work with Latvia First. One reason, he said, was the election of Rēzekne Mayor Aleksandrs Bartaševičs to parliament, whom Kulbergs accused of having run the city into the ground.

Kulbergs also reiterated his goal of reducing the number of ministries from 14 to 11, but did not say which ministries might be affected.

The United List won the 15th Saeima election with 41 seats, the largest number ever won by a party in Latvia’s parliament, according to the article. Latvia First secured 17 seats, Sovereign Power/Alliance of New Latvians 15, the National Alliance and the Progressives 10 each, and New Unity seven. The Union of Greens and Farmers failed to pass the five percent threshold, leaving parliament for the first time in its 24-year history. Turnout was 51.81 percent, or 807,067 voters, the lowest recorded for a parliamentary election.