Berzins says president's ambitions will disband parliament

Nov 28, 2008
TBT Staff in cooperation with BNS

RIGA - Gundars Berzins, a leading member of the ruling People's Party, has said that he thinks the president will disband parliament by next spring for personal ambition.

In an interview with the Baltic News Service, Berzins said Latvian President Valdis Zatlers was looking to secure his place in the Latvian history books.

"In order to go down in history, he wants to do during his presidency something that nobody else has done before, whether the consequences. I am fully certain that betwen February and April Zatler will try to decide on dissolution of the parliament," said Berzins. Nevertheless, the politician agreed that at the time Zatlers was elected as the head of the state there had been no other option but to back his appointment to the post.

"He [the president] will disregard the fact that it will result in a combination of complicated external financial circumstances with a serious political crisis that may have very grave consequences. But it will be the result that would remain in history," said Berzins, adding that the president would be driven solely by the ambition to put his name down in history.

People's Party representatives said that the comments reflected Berzins' personal opinion, and were not representative of the views of the entire party.

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