Siliņa says entire Unity board must face re-election after poor result

Evika Siliņa says the entire Unity board must take responsibility for the party’s disappointing election result and will be re-elected at an extraordinary congress. She made the remarks in an interview with Latvian public broadcaster LSM.

The New Unity alliance received just over 6% of the vote in elections for Latvia’s 15th Saeima, or parliament, securing seven seats. It is the smallest number of seats the political force has ever held in the Saeima.

“It is clear that the format in which we currently work no longer appeals to our members or voters,” Siliņa said. She added that the board had agreed to hold new elections at Unity’s extraordinary congress.

Siliņa leads the New Unity alliance and is also a member of Unity’s board. She said Unity would elect its board first, after which the other parties in the alliance would elect the New Unity board.

New Unity was formed in 2018, ahead of the 13th Saeima election, when Unity joined with several regional parties.

The United List won the 15th Saeima election with 41 seats, followed by Latvia First with 17, Sovereign Power/Association of Young Latvians with 15, the National Alliance and the Progressives with 10 each, and New Unity with seven.

President Edgars Rinkēvičs said on Tuesday that he would again ask current Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs of the United List to form the next government. He hopes the process will be completed by the November national holiday.