Repse picks partners, spurns Skele

  • 2002-10-17
  • Steven C. Johnson
RIGA

Four center-right and centrist parties say they have agreed to form a government with ex-central banker Einars Repse at the helm and political newcomers in charge of several ministries.

But the two largest right-wing parties in the incoming Saeima (Latvia's parliament) legislature - Repse's New Era and the People's Party of ex-Prime Minister Andris Skele - will remain on opposite sides of the aisle.

Election winners New Era are set to team up with Latvia's First Party, the Union of Greens and Farmers, and For Fatherland and Freedom to form a government that would command 55 seats in the 100-member Parliament.

The parties have already floated names for ministerial posts and Repse's adviser Peteris Vinkelis said they planned to deliver a coalition agreement to President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, who would then formally nominate Repse as prime minister, in the coming weeks.

A presidential spokeswoman said Vike-Freiberga, who met with party representatives Oct. 15, will make her announcement at the new Parliament's inaugural session on Nov. 5. The government would require parliamentary approval.

Repse has promised to continue Latvia's pro-business, pro-European Union policies while cracking down on corruption.

The agreement freezes out the election's second-place finisher, the left-wing For Human Rights party, and Skele's People's Party, which finished third in the Oct. 5 poll.

The People's Party agrees with New Era on most policy issues but Repse and Skele are thought to dislike one another and have clashed several times since votes were counted.

Skele slammed the decision to lock his party out of the government, saying it would foster instability.

"The government should have the largest like-minded parties as its nucleus, and we think that parties with a large number of seats have every right to be in the government," he said.

He also criticized Repse's choice for foreign minister, former Jewish Community leader Grigorijs Krupnikovs, for allegedly suggesting in a newspaper interview that Latvia should slow down its march to the EU, prompting Repse to accuse Skele of "anti-Semitism."

"Let's be frank. By this you mean to play the anti-Semitic card malevolently based on incorrectly reported statements in the media," Repse said during an Oct. 11 meeting between the two parties.

Krupnikovs angrily denied the accusation, saying he was misquoted, and reiterated his commitment to the EU, which Latvia hopes to join by 2004.

"We don't have any other choice but to join," he said.

The People's Party has also accused Krupnikovs of collaborating with Soviet security structures before Latvia won independence in 1991, referring to classified information accessible to its deputies in Parliament.

"It has led us to doubt his political activity during Soviet times," said party spokesman Martins Vanags. "With Latvia about to join NATO and the EU, we need to have a foreign minister with a good reputation."

Vinkelis denied the accusations and said the party intended to stick by Krupnikovs as its foreign minister candidate.

As for the People's Party, he said New Era's strong anti-corruption message during the campaign precluded cooperation between the two.

"Latvians voted overwhelmingly against the current government and against corruption, and they were the largest party in that government, so it's only logical that they should bear most of the responsibility," he said.

Skele, a businessman-turned-politician and former owner of a vast Latvian food processing conglomerate, usually ranks among the most unpopular politicians in public opinion polls.

Since 1996, he has headed three short-lived governments, all of which collapsed amid accusations of corruption and squabbles over privatization.

"It was clear from the beginning that this election was Skele versus Repse, and going along with Skele as an equal would cost us politically. Our electorate was anti-orange from the beginning," said Vinkelis, referring to the dominant color on the People's Party campaign ads.

"It makes political sense for Repse to put Skele in the opposition because he's seen as being connected to Latvia's oligarchs, but whether it's a politically astute move in the long-run, I don't know," said Pauls Raudseps, an editor at the daily Diena.

Latvia has had 10 governments since independence, with only the outgoing coalition of Prime Minister Andris Berzins lasting more than two years.

All four parties in the proposed coalition say they are united in their support for NATO - to which Latvia expects to win an invitation in November - and the EU.

"All agree that the EU is very important," said Ainars Slesers, a Latvia's First Party leader. "We intend to continue negotiations on sensitive areas to make sure we protect Latvian interests, but of course, we must be in the EU."

Farmers are especially worried about not being able to compete in a common market with their more heavily subsidized EU counterparts.

The Union of Greens and Farmers ran a vaguely Euroskeptic campaign in the run-up to elections, but Vikelis said the party had made clear in meetings with Repse its support for the EU.