Consensus among the coalition partners on one candidate for the position of President “is unlikely to be possible”, “United List” (AS) politicians Edvards Smiltēns, Edgars Tavars and Uldis Sesks express in a statement to the mass media.
Consensus among the coalition partners on one candidate for the position of President “is unlikely to be possible”, “United List” (AS) politicians Edvards Smiltēns, Edgars Tavars and Uldis Sesks express in a statement to the mass media.
A president elected as a result of the coalition agreement cannot be an end in itself, the statement of the party association said. In AS’s view, instead of a narrow agreement in the presidential elections, there will be an “open and democratic competition of candidates”.
“That’s why announcements about mandatory coalition support for only one candidate are incomprehensible. This weakens competition, does not promote finding the best candidate and does not promote discussions about the President’s priorities, work to be done and Latvia’s challenges,” Smiltēns, Tavars and Sesks say.
Instead, AS calls on all the forces represented in the Saeima to prepare for “meaningful and constructive” discussions about the best candidates, “to do it with respect, without hanging empty tags and avoiding the politics of personal insults, blackmail and ultimatums”.
“Since a consensus on one candidate will hardly be possible among the coalition partners, the president will not be elected as a result of some narrow agreement, but with all Saeima deputies getting involved in evaluating the qualities, competence and future vision of the nominated candidates,” AS politicians said.
AS claims that one of the reasons for its creation was Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, in order to prevent the entry into the Saeima of forces that would like to change Latvia’s security and foreign policy goals. Currently, the opposition forces “Stability” and “Latvija first” have given their support to the AS presidential candidate Uldis Pīlēnas.
“Latvia’s steadfast support for NATO, the strengthening of our country’s defense capabilities and support for Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor are the cornerstones of AS’s policies and actions. We have also relied on this position when advancing the candidacy of the President of the State,” said the statement, which also recalls the previously mentioned arguments of the founder of AS For promoting Pīlēnas as a candidate for the President of the Republic.
As reported, the first to announce his ambition to run for the position of the President was the businessman, founder of “Apivenėta sarkasta” (AS) Uldis Pīlēns. Apart from the AS, a number of opposition politicians have expressed their support for him, however, a stable majority of votes in the elections is currently not completely secure for Pilens.
Later, the current President Egils Levits announced that he is ready to run for a second term as the country’s first person. The support of Levitt is promised by the National Union and “New Unity”, therefore he currently does not have enough votes for re-election. Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) has expressed that “New Unity” wants the coalition to reach one candidate for the post of President – Levitt.
The presidential elections in the Saeima will be held on the last day of May.
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