President asks Kulbergs to form Latvia’s next government

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said Tuesday he would ask incumbent Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs to form the next government, LSM reported. Kulbergs’ United List won 41 seats in the 15th Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, the largest number in the party’s history.

Rinkēvičs said consultations with all parties elected to parliament showed that political forces respected the election result and that Kulbergs had broad, though not unanimous, support. He said the parties were ready to discuss forming a government with the United List and Kulbergs.

Kulbergs is to negotiate with the parliamentary parties on a governing coalition, the distribution of responsibilities and the government’s priorities, which will be set out in a draft declaration.

Rinkēvičs cannot formally nominate Kulbergs as prime minister until the current government has resigned. The president said this would not prevent the parties from starting work on forming a government. The new Saeima is due to meet for the first time on November 3.

The United List has said it will first discuss forming a government with its previous coalition partners, the National Alliance and New Unity, which won 10 and seven seats respectively. Together, the three parties would hold 58 seats.