Europe News
Government coalition talks struggle on in Latvia
Oct 19, 2010, 11:04 GMT
Riga - Negotiations were continuing Tuesday in Latvia over the formation of a new government coalition - nearly three weeks after parliamentary elections gave a strong mandate to incumbent Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.
Dombrovskis' Unity bloc emerged as the largest single party after elections on October 2. However, hopes that a coalition would be formed quickly have proved to be optimistic.
Though agreement has been reached on cooperation with the third largest party, the Greens' and Farmers' Union, negotiations are foundering with two other parties, the pro-Russian Harmony Centre and the right-wing Nationalist Alliance, which are refusing to work with each other.
'We wanted to have as broad a government as possible. Unfortunately, both our potential partners have failed to demonstrate the political will that we expected them to show,' Unity parliamentary leader Dzintars Zakis told the LTV television channel on Tuesday.
Having originally floated the idea of a four-party coalition controlling 92 of the parliament's 100 seats, Dombrovskis could now end up with a two-party alliance with a much smaller majority and 55 seats.
The Latvian parliament is expected to vote on the formation of the new government when the next parliamentary session begins on November 2.
Read more about Latvia Politics
COMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in Europe
- 1. Pope in Easter message calls for peace and religious tolerance
- 2. Magnificent Messi leads Barcelona to ninth straight win
- 3. Pope leads Easter vigil, calls for "true enlightenment"
- 4. Barcelona increase pressure on Real with romp in Zaragoza
- 5. Pope Benedict XVI leads Easter Vigil
Older Talkback
