In Latvia Today, 08:34VIDEO Nenasheva doubts that "Progressives" could work with NA

Currently, the ruling coalition consists of “Jaunā vietība” (JV), NA and “Apvientais list” (AS), but after the presidential elections, in which the coalition parties could not agree on support for one candidate, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) has started negotiations on a possible coalition expansion with the Green and Farmers’ Union (ZZS) and “Progressives”.

Nenasheva said that for the time being, the board of “Progressives” has made a decision to enter into negotiations with other parties about possible inclusion in the government, if they are invited. So far, the party has not received any such invitation for negotiations.

The politician emphasized that she cannot answer whether the “Progressives” will be in the government in the near future, even though the government has been dysfunctional lately.

Asked what kind of ruling coalition the “Progressives” would like to see, Nenasheva replied that no decisions have been made in the party on this issue, but she herself thinks that it would be impossible to work with some parties whose names are mentioned in the context of the coalition, for example, NA.

She also sees certain cooperation risks in potential cooperation with ZZS, but that would still be a matter of negotiations and precise agreements, while she does not see any special claims against AS.

In Nenasheva’s view, initially “Progressives” should go to negotiations with JV as the largest Saeima faction.

The deputy emphasized that before the Presidential elections, the “Progressives” were not promised anything about a vote in favor of JV candidate Edgars Rinkēvičs, and the party’s decision in his favor was only logical after the self-promoted candidate Elīna Pinto dropped out of the elections. “No one owes us anything,” added the deputy.

Now the board of “Progressives” has decided that it will engage in possible negotiations for inclusion in the ruling coalition, as the party’s goal is to come to power in order to implement its program with which it entered politics, said Nenasheva. She named health care funding, investment in education and the fight against violence as priority issues for the “Progressives” while working in the government, but it is too early to talk about the division of ministerial portfolios.

Dzintars: Clarity about the work of the government is needed, but there may not be a quick solution

In order for the government to successfully continue its work, it is necessary to quickly clarify the situation in the ruling coalition, the leader of the National Union (NA) Raivis Dzintars said in an interview with LTV “Rītas panorāma” this morning.

Currently, the ruling coalition consists of “Jaunā vietība” (JV), NA and “Apvientais list” (AS), but after the presidential elections, in which the coalition parties could not agree on support for one candidate, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) has started negotiations on a possible coalition expansion with the Green and Farmers’ Union (ZZS) and “Progressives”.

Asked how to achieve constructive work of the ruling coalition in conditions of mutual mistrust, Dzintars stated that clarity is needed as to what the coalition will be, as currently NA and AS MPs and ministers are not clear whether JV will be an ally or opposition in the future.

In Dzintar’s view, clarity on this issue may not be reached quickly, the issue will hardly be resolved within a week or two, which may seriously hamper the work of the ruling coalition.

The NA politician repeatedly stated that he still does not see the possibilities of cooperation with the “Progressives”.

Dzintars also repeatedly expressed the opinion that a deal had taken place in the presidential elections – support for JV’s presidential candidate Edgars Rinkēvičs had been obtained, in return for promising help to the parties currently in opposition to enter the government.

According to him, assumptions that a wider coalition will achieve a higher dynamism of the government’s work are illogical. These are absurd arguments being used, the NA politician added.

According to Dzintars, Kariņas himself needs to take a more self-critical look at his work, “maybe his leadership skills were not good enough”, instead of shifting the responsibility to the coalition partners. In his assessment, JV has achieved a “one-time concentration of power” and now it must prove its capabilities in works.