Latvia may get a four-party coalition
13.10.2010, 14:35Latvian PM Valdis Dombrovskis is trying to form a government with the backing of four parties controlling almost all the seats in parliament as he seeks to blunt opposition to another round of budget cuts.
“We are trying to find a cooperation model that will be acceptable to four parties,” though some of the groups may not be represented in the Cabinet, Dombrovskis, 39, said today on the Latvian television program 900 Seconds. Talks are continuing after Oct. 2 parliamentary elections, writes Bloomberg.
The four parties would have 92 votes in the 100-seat parliament.
Dombrovskis’ Unity bloc won 33 seats in parliament and current coalition member Union of Greens and Farmers has 22. Harmony Center, which finished second with 29 seats and represents the Russian-speaking minority, has been offered a ministry and cooperation in parliament, Dombrovskis said. The fourth potential partner is For Fatherland, with eight seats.
Dombrovskis said there were concerns that a government containing For Fatherland/All for Latvia would complicate some foreign policy areas, without saying which ones. The party campaigned on a nationalist platform and is for strengthening the role of the Latvian language in the country and want Russia to pay compensation for losses incurred during Soviet rule.
Dombrovskis may form a government with the Union of Greens and Farmers, creating a coalition with 55 votes, Diena reported, without saying where it got the information. Dombrovskis would then try to sign cooperation agreements with Harmony Center and For Fatherland/All for Latvia, the Riga-based newspaper said.