Kirsis signs memorandum against Slesers

RIGA - Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) has signed a memorandum proposed by the Progressives party in which he pledges not to form a coalition with Ainars Slesers' party Latvia First, as New Unity's public relations officer Agnese Rozentale told LETA.

Kirsis believes that it is necessary to act in a united, statesmanlike way in the interest of Latvia rather than to get involved in petty squabbles.

The elections will decide whether Riga will continue to work as "a well-adjusted mechanism that operates transparently, in a good rhythm, safely and for a long time, or whether the city will once again become a one-man tsarist state, serving the interests of limited groups of individuals and getting caught up in waste and corruption scandals", said Kirsis.

"If we fight each other now, in a month's time we will be in gloomy opposition and only watch all the work done in the past years being squandered and Riga losing the reputation it has regained. It is our duty to find common denominators and to stand together to ensure that in the next four years we will continue to work so that Riga continues on the path of development as a European city and a city with Latvian self-respect," says Kirsis.

He sees New Unity, the National Alliance and the Progressives as the basis for the next Riga City Council coalition.

As reported, the Progressives party has called on New Unity and the National Alliance to make a promise not to enter a coalition with Ainars Slesers' Latvia First party in Riga.

Riga Vice Mayor Edvards Ratnieks, who is running for the post of Riga mayor on the National Alliance's ticket, later told LETA that the Progressives' proposal to sign a memorandum containing a pledge not to collaborate with Latvia First in Riga is a public relations activity, or a "PR move".