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Riga City Council's new coalition agrees on cooperation

BC, Riga, 11.09.2020.Print version
After two weeks of talks, the Riga City Council's new coalition reached an agreement on cooperation on September 10th, reports LETA.

The agreement on cooperation has been reached, with only some editorial corrections still needed before the document can be signed, coalition partners told journalists after Thursday's meeting. They also promised that the coalition agreement would be made public.


The coalition's nominee for Riga mayor Martins Stakis informed that the new coalition has agreed on nine key areas of cooperation: good governance, high-quality education without waiting lines for places in kindergartens, high-quality cultural life, improving mobility and a plan for rebuilding infrastructure, an urban environment that is comfortable and open to joy of living, ambitious environmental goals, new housing policy proposals, development of social protection, as well as economic growth and attraction of investment. 


Vilnis Kirsis of New Unity said that the legacy left by the previous city council was quite awful and that now its necessary to get down to work as soon as possible. 


Linda Ozola of the New Conservative Party indicated that the way the would-be coalition has been working so far shows that a successful negotiations result is a matter of political will and that each partner in these coalition talks has been highly motivated.


Edvards Smiltens of the National Alliance/Latvian Association of Regions said that the agreement reached by the partners was proof that the coalition has passed the first cooperation test. In his words, the talks went incredibly smoothly and there were no fundamental differences between the partners. 


The coalition will have to work hard as there are major problems in nearly all areas, Smiltens said. 


The coalition partners are planning to sign the cooperation agreement after the court finishes hearing the lawsuits challenging the results of the August 29 Riga City Council elections.


The last editorial corrections to the cooperation agreement will be made during the workgrop's next meeting on Friday, September 11.


As reported, four political groups represented on the new Riga City Council have succeeded in forming a coalition. The alliance of Development/For and the Progressives (APP), which won the August 29 municipal elections, has formed the coalition with New Unity, the New Conservative Party, the National Alliance/Latvian Association of Regions.







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