The broader the coalition forming a government that would work until the elections, the better, said Andris Kulbergs, the prime ministerial nominee from United List (AS), in an interview with TV3 on May 18.
The politician suggested that it might be possible to reach an agreement on forming a government among five political forces – all parliamentary factions except Latvia First.
“Let us set aside ideological and controversial issues; we will resolve them in the next Saeima term. For now, let us agree on several priority tasks that must be completed before the elections,” Kulbergs urged.
He also promised that both he personally and AS would put aside any previous political grievances between parties in order to focus on work.
Kulbergs expressed confidence that if other parties placed the country first, an agreement on forming a government could be reached.
The AS politician pledged to personally assume responsibility for issues related to Rail Baltica and airBaltic.
In his view, the responsibilities of the Ministry of Transport should generally be reviewed, as there are too many problematic issues for one person to resolve. Instead, he suggested appointing a special minister dedicated solely to matters concerning Rail Baltica.
According to Kulbergs, AS would definitely seek to lead the Finance Ministry in the government he forms, as Latvia’s public finances urgently need to be put in order and both this year’s and next year’s state budgets must be reassessed.
At the same time, he acknowledged that optimizing ministries before the elections would not be achievable.
Speaking later on Latvian Television’s “Rita panorama,” Kulbergs added that he hoped to reach substantive agreements on joint cooperation with other parties, including The Progressives, so that concrete responsibilities could already be divided later this week. However, he declined to discuss the distribution of positions in greater detail for now.
When asked where savings could be found in public administration, Kulbergs cited the possibility of limiting wasteful year-end spending on unreasonable procurement projects. Meanwhile, he stressed that healthcare and education were not sectors where cuts should be made.
He also said he would like to divide government work into two sessions – one dedicated to key budget issues and another to more technical matters which, in his opinion, the government should not necessarily need to review, although the law currently imposes such obligations.
“I like pace, I am used to working in crises,” Kulbergs said, emphasizing his determination to work and insisting that he was not afraid to take responsibility.
He also stressed that unpleasant decisions must sometimes be made.
Meanwhile, Inese Libina-Egnere, a politician from New Unity (JV), said that President Edgars Rinkevics had made a good choice by nominating Kulbergs for prime minister and giving him his “guiding mandate.” JV supports the idea of as broad a coalition as possible, which the party itself had previously attempted to create after the last parliamentary elections, though at that time the National Alliance and AS had refused to work together with the Progressives.
Libina-Egnere noted that AS had not yet held discussions with JV about possible joint cooperation, but the party was waiting for an opportunity to become involved in coalition-building, as it considered itself a nationally responsible political force.
According to her, JV is initially prepared to discuss the most important priorities – state security and negotiations over the European Union’s multiannual budget – while not currently making any demands regarding ministerial posts. She also declined to reveal JV’s candidate for prime minister in the next parliamentary elections.
As previously reported, the government led by Evika Silina of JV collapsed in early May, and President Rinkevics entrusted AS politician Kulbergs with forming a new government, giving political parties slightly more than a week for negotiations. (BNN)