"They are held together only by the budget, and even that — not strongly," experienced politicians in the corridors say about the situation in the ruling coalition.
However, the Prime Minister Evika Silina, responsible for the stability of the coalition, suddenly stated yesterday, after a meeting with the President, that there are signs of... cohesion in the coalition, and therefore in the government!
The Prosecutor Will Decide
Either the head of government knows something that everyone else does not, or she is no longer in control of the situation and is not tracking public statements, and most importantly — the actions of her power partners!
Silina made her conclusion about signs of cohesion just a few hours after the Minister of Communications Aitis Shvinka (Progressives) publicly accused the partners from the Union of Greens and Farmers. According to Shvinka and his party colleagues, the 'green farmers' are trying to act in the spirit of the 90s.
The head of the Ministry of Communications provided examples of such actions, in his understanding, reminiscent of the 90s: attempts to exempt two companies from sanctions, demands to write off the debts of the Ventspils port, and dubious state support for private businesses in the woodworking sector. Regarding the latter fact, the Saeima deputies from the Progressives filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General's Office, effectively complaining about the Minister of Agriculture and concurrently the leader of the Union of Greens and Farmers Armands Krauze. As you can understand, this step will certainly 'strengthen' the coalition and contribute to its 'cohesion'.
It is worth noting that earlier this week, there was again a heated exchange between Shvinka and Krauze during a live broadcast. The reason was again the 'story with the woodworkers'. Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze stated that this is "a lie, as we were helping not private companies, but the industry — to prevent the bankruptcy of companies and mass layoffs of workers." A. Krauze explained that it was not about budget payments, but about reducing the prices for the sale of timber through an auction by the state enterprise 'Latvijas valsts meži'.
A. Shvinka disagreed with these arguments and accused the Ministry of Agriculture of trying to act in the spirit of the 90s.
"Only a person who does not know the industry can say such nonsense," concluded A. Krauze. He stated that the budget for 2026 will be adopted, after which consultations will begin to understand whether it makes sense to maintain the current government.
It is obvious that the coalition has long gone off the rails; in the corridors of power, it is said that the government exists only on paper and that it cannot continue to live like this.
The Minister is Summoned
One way or another, the budget for 2026 will be adopted next week in any case. The only question is what kind of budget will be adopted — perhaps the 'internal rebels', that is, the 'green farmers', will support some budget amendment from the opposition.
And the opposition will 'in response' support some principled amendments from the Union of Greens and Farmers. For example, regarding the allocation of funds for passenger transport in the regions. By the way, when this material was being prepared for publication, the Minister of Finance Arvils Aseradens (New Unity) was summoned to the Saeima faction — precisely regarding the issue of financing passenger transport and other priority positions of the Union of Greens and Farmers.
Waiting for a New Government?
Of course, miracles happen in politics, and it cannot be ruled out that after the adoption of the budget for 2026, the 'green farmers' and the 'progressives'... will reconcile, and Silina's government will continue its work. However, today it is hard to believe in such a scenario.
First of all, from such a marriage of convenience with the 'progressives', the Union of Greens and Farmers only loses — the popularity of this political union is rapidly declining, the 'green farmers' have clearly found themselves in the shadow of both New Unity and even the small 'progressives'. Furthermore, the 'green farmers' are still struggling to cope with the pressure they faced regarding the Istanbul Convention.
Rumor has it that informal consultations are already underway in the corridors of parliament about the possibility of creating a new ruling coalition and, consequently, a new government. If these consultations lead to nothing, then... Silina will be lucky, and her government will continue its work. Especially since there are only 10 months left until the elections...
And Three Proposals from the Opposition
Meanwhile, yesterday the Budget and Finance Committee, exactly according to schedule, completed its work on preparing the draft budget for 2026 for the final reading. The deputies supported as many as three proposals from the opposition.
Thus, the ruling parliamentarians approved the initiative of the National Alliance to allocate a subsidy to the National Warriors Society — for organizing commemorative events related to military history and patriotism. The amendment from the National Alliance to allocate subsidies to the Liv Society was also approved. The deputies also favorably received the proposal from the 'Stability!' faction to allocate funds to the Children's Hospital Foundation for the treatment and rehabilitation of children suffering from autism.
The discussion of the budget at the plenary session is scheduled for December 3, and if the debates drag on, which is likely, the discussion of the budget will smoothly transition to December 4 and possibly even December 5.
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