Siliņa expressed her commitment to start negotiations with potential coalition partners as soon as possible on Friday, August 25: the United List, the National Alliance, the Progressives, and the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS). The first meetings will take place separately, i.e. not in a roundtable format.
The Prime Ministerial nominee plans to set up the government by mid-September. She has previously said that negotiations on the formation of the next government cannot be dragged on any longer.
Support for the New Unity-led government has already been expressed by opposition factions – the Union of Greens and Farmers (UGF) and Progressives, who see a path into power for themselves.
Saskaņā ar Latvijas Republikas Satversmes 56. pantu Valsts prezidents @edgarsrinkevics aicina Eviku Siliņu sastādīt Ministru kabinetu.
— Valsts prezidenta kanceleja (@Rigas_pils) August 24, 2023
📸https://t.co/0pbgG0vRiT pic.twitter.com/hSDK7bzGo3
On the other hand, the United List continues to defend the preservation of the existing coalition model with the New Unity and the National Alliance, while no longer excluding a wider coalition as strictly as before.
The National Alliance also believes the departing government model to be the optimal one, but excludes cooperation with the Progressives due to ideological differences.
The new government could be approved in the middle of September, but before then yet more individual and joint meetings will take place and a draft of a government declaration stating its intentions and priority areas will need to be drawn up. Parties will also need to agree who controls which ministries. Ultimately the government is approved not by the President but by the Saeima [parliament].
