Even in winter, when the ratings of "New Unity" were rapidly falling, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa was subjected to large-scale public criticism and the party's chances of maintaining political influence in the next Saeima became quite uncertain, rumors emerged that influential entrepreneurs were concerned about whether it was time to secure a backup option to maintain influence after the 2026 elections, writes Diena.
These concerns intensified even more at the end of February when, in the name of a "restart" of the government, the Prime Minister sacrificed one of the figures of the "New Unity" in the government - Minister of Education and Science Anda Čakša. This coincided with a project by the Ministry of Education and Science for monitoring education worth 21 million euros, which attracted significant interest from IT companies, although its feasibility was questioned. After Čakša's replacement, the scale of the project was significantly reduced.
At the same time, active efforts to create a new party were initiated by the previously little-known entrepreneur Armands Broks. It was reported since spring that he was negotiating with well-known figures from the business community, government administration, and political parties to establish a new political force. However, within the legally established timeframe - one year before the next Saeima elections - the party was not founded, and this was explained in political circles by two reasons.
Firstly, Broks was unable to move beyond informal conversations over coffee in attracting serious candidates, so the planned loud start had to be abandoned. Secondly, the refusal to proceed with the new party project was explained in the corridors by a hope for Plan B, meaning that at the "Unity" congress, Anda Čakša would manage to take control of the party and thereby dispel the concerns of the influential entrepreneurs behind Broks regarding the ruling party potentially losing its influence in the new Saeima. But this also did not happen, and now, contrary to logic, Broks has announced the creation of a new party, although it will not be able to participate in the Saeima elections independently, without using the platform of another existing party.
Čakša stated in an interview with the newspaper "Diena" that she holds no grudges and does not intend to join Broks' party, although she believes that "Unity" is not moving in the right direction. Broks himself does not deny that his initial plan has failed, and the current one, announced on October 18 by the director Alvis Hermanis who joined the new party, emerged at the last moment. Other prominent figures of the new party will include Didzis Šmits, a deputy from the "United List" faction, entrepreneur Guntars Vitols, who unsuccessfully ran for elections from the same list, and pastor Peteris Sprogis, who once planned to participate in the 2018 elections as the "Consent" candidate for president.
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