After two weeks of deliberate quiet following Latvia's parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs has stepped forward to chart a careful path toward government formation. His United List won the most seats but not a majority, making coalition partners not merely useful but essential. What distinguishes this moment is not simply the mechanics of coalition-building, but Kulbergs's insistence that parties first agree on how they will govern together before deciding who will govern what — a sequence that places the integrity of the process above the usual scramble for portfolios.
Latvian PM Kulbergs outlines coalition talks strategy after two-week pause
A unified team with clearly defined objectives and the capacity to make difficult decisions
Mark
Why did Kulbergs wait two weeks before announcing anything? That seems like a long time to leave things in limbo.
Mimi
He said it was his workload—he's still running the current government while all this is happening. But the pause also gave parties time to digest the election results and think about their positions before formal talks began.
Luke
We should note that we only have his stated reason. Whether the delay was purely logistical or also strategic—buying time to build consensus, letting smaller parties feel pressure—that's not confirmed in the reporting.
Mark
So he's starting with National Alliance and New Unity. Are those the only two he needs?
Mimi
They're already his partners, so they're the natural first conversation. But no—he's also planning to meet with Latvia First, Sovereign Power and the Young Latvians Alliance, and the Progressives. He needs to figure out which combination actually works.
Luke
The math is interesting here. United List has 41 seats. That's the most, but it's not a majority in a 100-seat parliament. So he definitely needs partners. The reporting doesn't say which combination he's leaning toward, though.
Mark
What's unusual about his approach to these talks?
Mimi
He's insisting on getting agreement on cooperation principles and shared objectives before they even discuss who gets which ministry. Most coalitions fight over the portfolios first.
Luke
That's a fair characterization of what he said he wants to do. Whether he can actually enforce that sequencing—whether the other parties will accept it—that's still to be determined. It's his stated strategy, not yet a proven one.
Mark
What does "cooperation principles" actually mean in practice?
Mimi
Things like how they'll make decisions together, how they'll resolve disagreements when they come up, how often they'll report to the public, how they'll engage with civil society and labor groups. Basically, the operating manual before they start operating.
Luke
Right. And that's smart governance thinking. But the reporting doesn't tell us whether the other parties have already agreed this is a good idea, or whether Kulbergs is proposing it and they'll have to negotiate whether to accept it.
Mark
When do the actual talks start?
Mimi
October 28th. First with National Alliance, then New Unity the same day. The other parties presumably follow after that.
Luke
The reporting confirms October 28th for those first two meetings. It doesn't give us a full schedule for the other parties, so we don't know exactly how long this whole process is expected to take.
Le Pouls
- Latvia has sat in political suspension for over two weeks as Kulbergs managed his caretaker duties in silence, leaving parties and public alike uncertain about the path forward.
- The arithmetic is unforgiving: 41 seats for the United List is a plurality, not a mandate, and the remaining elected parties — Latvia First, Sovereign Power, Young Latvians Alliance, and the Progressives — each carry their own ambitions and leverage.
- Kulbergs is deliberately inverting the usual coalition playbook, demanding agreement on shared principles, reform priorities, and accountability mechanisms before a single ministry changes hands.
- Talks begin October 28th with current partners National Alliance and New Unity, but the full negotiation will eventually draw in all newly elected parties, making the process as much about building a governing culture as building a majority.
- The new Saeima's first sitting coincides with the opening of negotiations, meaning the formal and informal foundations of Latvia's next government will be laid almost simultaneously.
After two weeks of deliberate quiet following Latvia's parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs has stepped forward to chart a careful path toward government formation. His United List won the most seats but not a majority, making coalition partners not merely useful but essential. What distinguishes this moment is not simply the mechanics of coalition-building, but Kulbergs's insistence that parties first agree on how they will govern together before deciding who will govern what — a sequence that places the integrity of the process above the usual scramble for portfolios.
Andris Kulbergs broke more than two weeks of post-election silence on Tuesday, announcing that coalition negotiations would begin October 28th. The United List leader had won the most seats in Latvia's parliamentary vote, but his 41-seat plurality falls well short of a governing majority — making partners not optional, but essential.
His first conversations will be with the National Alliance and New Unity, both current coalition members, before he widens the circle to include Latvia First, Sovereign Power, the Young Latvians Alliance, and the Progressives. President Edgars Rinkēvičs had already formally tasked Kulbergs with forming the government after consulting all elected parties.
What sets Kulbergs's approach apart is a deliberate reversal of the usual sequence. Rather than opening with negotiations over ministerial portfolios, he intends to first secure agreement on how the parties will actually work together — shared principles of cooperation, reform priorities, accountability mechanisms, and procedures for resolving disagreements. Only once that foundation is in place will the coalition move to distributing power.
The two-week pause, attributed publicly to the demands of managing the current government, may also have served a strategic purpose — allowing the political landscape to settle before formal talks began. As the new Saeima holds its first sitting around the same time negotiations open, Kulbergs has made clear he is not simply assembling a numerical majority. He is attempting to build a coalition capable of governing together when the inevitable conflicts of shared power arrive.
Andris Kulbergs broke his silence on Tuesday, ending more than two weeks of quiet that had followed Latvia's parliamentary elections. The United List leader, who won the most seats in the vote, announced that coalition negotiations would begin the following week—a deliberate delay that had left the country's political landscape in suspension while he managed his existing government duties.
The timing is precise. On October 28th, Kulbergs plans to sit down first with the National Alliance, then later the same day with New Unity. Both parties already govern alongside the United List, making them the natural first conversation partners. But the full parliament will be considerably more complex. Latvia First captured 17 seats, Sovereign Power and the Young Latvians Alliance together hold 15, and the Progressives secured 10. The United List itself commands 41 seats—a plurality, but not a majority on its own. The math demands coalition partners, and Kulbergs has signaled he intends to meet with all the newly elected parties.
What distinguishes Kulbergs's approach is his insistence on sequencing. Before dividing up ministerial posts or hammering out policy details, he wants the parties to first agree on how they will actually work together. This means establishing shared principles of cooperation, identifying which reforms the government will pursue, and creating mechanisms for accountability. He has emphasized that the new government must function as a unified team with clearly defined objectives and the capacity to make difficult decisions. The negotiations will also address how the coalition will make joint decisions, how disagreements will be resolved, and how the government will report regularly to the public and engage with social partners.
Kulbergs framed this sequencing as foundational. Only after the parties have locked in these cooperation principles and measurable objectives will they move to the second phase: determining who gets which ministry and how power is distributed among them. It is a deliberate reversal of the typical order, in which parties often negotiate portfolios first and then discover they cannot agree on how to govern.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs had already tasked Kulbergs with forming the government following initial consultations with all the elected parties. The United List's 41-seat victory gave Kulbergs the mandate, but it also left him dependent on partners. The two-week pause—which Kulbergs attributed to his workload managing the current government—may also have been strategic, allowing time for the political landscape to settle and for parties to assess their own positions before entering formal talks.
The first Saeima sitting will occur around the time negotiations begin, marking the formal opening of the new parliament. What happens in those first coalition meetings will shape not just the composition of the next government, but its operating principles. Kulbergs has made clear that he is not simply looking for a majority; he is looking for a coalition that can actually govern together, with shared understanding of what it intends to accomplish and how it will handle the inevitable conflicts that arise when multiple parties share power.
Citations marquantes
The new government must function as a team with clearly defined objectives and a willingness to make difficult decisions.— Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs
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