LATVIA-ELECTION Candidates gear up for Latvia's presidential election

Record ID: 149769

  • Title: LATVIA-ELECTION Candidates gear up for Latvia's presidential election
  • Date: 1st June 2015
  • Summary: RIGA, LATVIA (RECENT, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT BUILDING MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ENTERING PARLIAMENT BUILDING PARLIAMENT IN SESSION MPS LOOKING AT SCREEN PARLIAMENT IN SESSION UNION OF GREENS AND FARMERS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, RAIMONDS VEJONIS, ENTERING PREMISES OF REGIONAL ALLIANCE PARTY TO PRESENT HIS PROGRAMME VEJON
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Latvia
  • Country: Latvia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5EQIGHAWZ9JOU48Z2TLOJ9QGT
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Presidential hopefuls wooed the 100 members of Latvia's parliament, the Saeima, in the run-up to the vote on Wednesday (June 3) to replace incumbent Andris Berzins.
    For this year's poll, four candidates have been nominated from between the six parties currently represented in the parliament. A winner requires 51 votes to be elected without the need for a second round of voting.
    The centrist Union of Greens and Farmers, who have 21 votes and are members of the current leading coalition, have nominated Raimonds Vejonis as their chosen candidate. Prior to his current role as Latvian defence minister, he served as environment minister and regional development minister.
    "While being the defence minister in the last year, I have managed to achieve a lot to reinforce the safety of Latvia. It is not only the budget for defence that allows the advancement of our armed forces, but also the increasing presence of NATO in the region. That gives us more safety in the future. In my opinion, looking at it from the geopolitical situation, the next president will have the issue of security as number one on the agenda, and I feel that I can offer a lot to reinforce the safety of Latvia," he told Reuters.
    With Russia on its doorstep, the Latvian government has taken a robust stance on security. After taking over as prime minister in January 2014, Laimdota Straujuma has boosted defence spending and joined Baltic neighbours Estonia and Lithuania in pressing for a bigger NATO presence in the region.
    Union of Greens and Farmers right-wing coalition partner, the Nationalist Alliance, have also put forward their own candidate: Egils Levits, who has served as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union.
    "I have always participated in the legal, political and social life of Latvia, no matter where I have been located. I know very well what is happening in Latvia, how Latvia functions and how it should be functioning. I also know how the European Union functions and how it has to function. And, I think, this varied experience is a good and solid basis for me to do well as president," Levits, whose party hold 17 votes in the election, said.
    The biggest coalition party Unity, with 23 votes in the parliament, have not nominated a candidate for the presidency. The members of the party of Prime Minister Laidota Straujuma have a free vote and are likely to be divided between Vejonis and Levits, neither of which are a firm front-runner to be elected as the new president.
    Two smaller parties have also nominated candidates, whose prospects currently appear slim.
    The Latvian Regional Alliance hold eight seats and have nominated Martins Bondars, former head of the President's Chancery.
    But political science analyst Simona Gurbo from the Riga Stradins university said that Bondars was unlikely to win, cutting the poll down to a three-horse race.
    "It is very difficult to predict who could win these elections. Bondars has very low possibility to be elected, so the fight will be between the three - Vejonis, [Harmony candidate Sergejs] Dolgopolovs and Levits. Taking into account that Dolgopolovs represents the opposition, he also has a lower chance of winning. Mathematically, the most realistic candidate is Vejonis," she said.
    Dolgopolovs is the first ever candidate for president from the Concord party, who are heavily supported by the ethnic Russians and were supported by almost 21 percent of voters in the last parliamentary election, making them the biggest single party with 24 seats.
    The Concord party has called for Russian to become Latvia's second official language and did not back a recent parliamentary resolution supporting Ukraine against "Russian aggression".
    The smaller From the Heart for Latvia have eight votes in the parliament and have not nominated anyone for the presidency. They have also announced that during the first ballot, they will not vote for any of the nominated candidates.
    "Of course, there is a risk, that we would have to organise second ballot, especially taking into account that inside the parties there are political games and that Unity has not expressed fixed position. There could easily be another candidate. But, on the other hand, the last two times, the president was elected during the first ballot. So, I think, we can hope, that there will be a new president on June 3," Gurbo said.
    The Latvian president is elected for a term of four years and is entitled to serve a second time, although incumbent Berzins from the Union of Greens and Farmers is not seeking reelection.
    The president nominates the prime minister and promulgates or transfers adopted laws back to the parliament. The president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces.
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