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SUBJECT Latvian PM-designate forms government, parliament vote expected Wednesday
DATE 2019-01-22
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PHOTO: bloomberg

 

The Latvian prime minister-designate Krisjanis Karins of the center-right New Unity Party announced on Monday that he had succeeded in forming a five-party center-right government, which will be put to a vote in parliament this week.

 

He said that he had secured the backing of a parliamentary majority for his candidacy, potentially ending months of political limbo since 2018 October elections. The first two candidates for the post from the KPV LV and the New Conservative parties both failed to establish a governing coalition.

 

His coalition is planned to consist of five of the seven parties in parliament, including Karin’s center-right New Unity, the New Conservative Party, KPV LV, the right-wing National Alliance and the liberal Alliance for Development.

 

Until January 18, it was still not clear whether KPV LV would join the Karins-led coalition as the fifth partner after four MPs of the party announced they would vote against the new government.

 

On Monday, January 21, KPV LV voted to join the Karins-led government and pledged it the support of 11 KPV LV parliamentarians, which meant that the new coalition has 61 votes in Latvia’s 100-seat parliament.

 

With this statement, Krisjanis Karins presented three key documents: a declaration setting out his government’s action plan, a coalition agreement, and a fiscal discipline pact. The action plan details his plans to start working immediately after the approval to continue the work started by the last government and start tackling the 2020 state budget as soon as possible.

 

BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)