Latvian Television's "What's happening in Latvia?" discussion show quizzed all the parties on parliament on the matter of who should head the central bank and be Latvia's represetative on the board of the European Central Bank (ECB), but found clear answers hard to come by.
There is currently no agreement on a common candidate among the three-party ruling coalition of the Progressives, New Unity, and Greens and Farmers Union (ZZS).
ZZS plans to approach the chairman of the board of the Altum state-backed financial institution Reinis Bēržiņš to encourage him to apply for the position of president of the central bank.
Raimonds Čudars, a member of the Saeima representing Prime Minister Evikas Silina's New Unity party said the extremely important position would be discussed next week. "We will probably consider several candidates, but I repeat once again that Mr. Kazāks is a worthy candidate," said Čudars, promising that there will be more openness about possible candidates and the assessment of the work of the current governor when the Presidium of the Saeima has set a date for the nomination of candidates.
Harijs Rokpelnis, the chairman of the ZZS faction, called the current governor a good person and a competent specialist, but revealing that it planned to approach Bērziņš after being impessed by his work at Altum. "Mr. Bērziņš's works speak very well of him," said Rokpelnis.
Chairman of the Progressives Saeima faction Andris Šuvajevs said: "We have discussed only one candidate in the faction – Mārtiņš Kazāks, and our faction would also be ready to support Mr. Kazāks."
Meanwhile, the opposition politicians, seeing that there is no consensus in the ruling coalition, expressed their suspicion in the discussion that the position of the president of the Bank of Latvia has become an object of political trading. Also, there are rumors circulating in the parliament's corridors that the position at the head of the Bank of Latvia could be intended as a "retirement platform" for one of the New Unity's senior politicians.
"I am sorry to see this post being given over to political bickering," said United List politician Edgars Tavars. In his opinion, Mārtiņš Kazāks is one of the potential candidates to be considered for the position of the President of the Bank of Latvia, but might not be the only one worth considering.
Artūrs Butāns, a member of the National Alliance faction, expressed similar thoughts, suggesting that it would only be worth opposition parties offering up a candidate of their own if they had a realistic chance of winning a vote in Saeima.
In contrast Stability! leader Aleksejs Rosļikovs said he has firmly decided to nominate a candidate for the post of president of the Bank of Latvia - even though he is aware that this candidate "will definitely not be elected". He did not name the individual he has in mind, however.
For his part, the chairman of the Latvija first party, Ainārs Šlesers, emphasizes that he will certainly not support a second term at the helm for Kazāks, and considers competition for the position to be welcome.
Kazāks became central bank governor after a Saeima vote nearly 5 years ago. His appointment came in the wake of a major scandal involving his long-serving predecessor, Ilmārs Rimšēvičs.
The Council takes decisions on behalf of Latvijas Banka.
The decision-making body of Latvijas Banka is the Council, which consists of seven persons including the governor (techncially reffered to as the 'President'), two Deputy Governors, and four Council Members. All are appointed by the Saeima.
