In Latvia Today, 08:44 With coalition partners for now "we speak two languages"says the Prime Minister

Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) described the negotiation process started by the parties on LTV’s “Morning Panorama” regarding the possible expansion of the ruling coalition with partners.

Currently, the ruling coalition consists of “Jaunā vietība” (JV), National Association (NA) and “Apvienatais listis” (AS), but after the presidential elections, in which the coalition parties were unable to agree on support for one candidate, Kariņš has started negotiations on a possible expansion of the coalition with the Green and Peasant Union (ZZS) and “Progressives”, which NA and AS categorically oppose.

Kariņš claimed that he had not abandoned the idea of expanding the coalition since the moment when the government was formed at the end of last year and JV unsuccessfully tried to include “Progressives” in it.

The politician admitted that the negotiations with the coalition partners about possible changes are not going well for now, because “we speak two languages” – Kariņš talking about jobs and programs, and the partners – about positions and portfolios, but the head of the government hopes that the negotiations will lead to solutions.

According to the words of the prime minister, negotiations on the expansion of the coalition have started in order to create a government capable of implementing the reform program. “With the existing forces, my hands are too short,” said Kariņš and expressed that he could not implement the plans that he is very sure should be implemented in the current composition. “Our work program is too narrow,” the politician added.

Kariņš expressed that he does not have any specific complaints or dissatisfaction with one or another minister, and accordingly, the purpose of the proposed changes is not to “touch any minister”, but to advance political reforms, which could be problematic to approve in the Saeima with the existing number of votes of the coalition.

The politician complained that in the existing three-party coalition format, ideas are often blocked, for example, he wants to ensure that ministers do not actually have a direct influence on state-owned enterprises, but AS blocks this idea. Recruiting new forces in the government would allow such blocking cases to be bypassed, the politician estimated.

This week, Kariņš and JV will start negotiations with ZZS and “Progresīvajii” about the work to be done, in order to find out if and which settings of JV they agree with, “and then we will see”.

On the other hand, when asked who will be the next foreign minister after Edgars Rinkēvičs takes office as the President, Kariņš did not give an answer, only saying that “Rinkēvičs still has a month in office”.