Pre-vote Presidential debates confirmed

Latvian Television (LTV) and the public media portal LSM.lv have confirmed that in the run-up to the presidential vote in Saeima on May 31, extensive interviews with the candidates (Uldis Pīlens, Elīna Pinto and Edgars Rinkēvičs) plus an eve-of-vote televised debate will take place.

The actual vote itself will be broadcast live from the Saeima building.

Additionally, leading political party figures will have the chance to air their views and reasoning about their voting intentions. 

Journalist Jānis Domburs, who will helm the discussions said: "Finding the best balance between the interests of the parties, the wishes of the public and the opinions of the candidates themselves – that, in my opinion, is the problem of the presidential election. The challenge of journalists is to help the country solve this problem, and additionally to emphasize important aspects related to the choice of the president, to which neither politicians nor others pay due attention."

On May 22 at At 20:50, there will be a live interview with the candidate of the United List party grouping, Uldis Pīlēns. On May 23 at 20.50 Elīna Pinto, nominated by the Progressives, will be in the hot seat, and then on May 25 it will be the turn of Edgars Rinkēvičs, nominated by New Unity.  

On May 28 at at 18:30,  all factions represented in Saeima will be invited to explain the position and decisions of their political force in a discussion led by Jānis Domburs. 

Then on May 30 at 21:10, there will be a live head-to-head debate between all three candidates in the LTV studios led by journalists Anete Bērtule and Jānis Geste.

In parallel, from May 22 to 30, on the RUS.LSM platform on weekdays at 16.00 the program "TČK" will feature interviews with presidential candidates. Journalists Aleksejs Dunda and Alona Borisova will lead the discussions.

For more on how the President is chosen under the Latvian system, see our earlier feature.

 

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