Latvia taps centre-right candidate to form government
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FILE PHOTO: Newly-elected Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics speaks during a press conference in Riga, Latvia May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/file photo
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VILNIUS - Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics on Thursday tasked Evika Silina of the centre-right New Unity party with forming the next government following the resignation of Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins.
Silina, a former lawyer who was welfare minister in the outgoing government, still needs to win a confidence vote in a fractured parliament, where her party commands 26 votes.
Karins, also of New Unity, the largest in the 100-seat parliament, announced his resignation on Aug. 14, blaming a breakdown in relations with parts of his multi-party coalition.
The New Unity governed the European Union nation of 1.9 million with support from the conservative National Alliance and the United List of smaller parties, giving him a narrow parliamentary majority.
But relations with the coalition soured after it failed to field a joint candidate in a presidential election in May.
Latvia's next parliamentary election is scheduled for 2026. REUTERS
