President expects less populism in upcoming Saeima elections

RIGA - There might be less populism in the upcoming Saeima elections than in previous parliamentary elections, President Egils Levits said in an interview with Latvian Television on Friday. 

In Levits' view, the current election campaigns are not particularly populistic, although some elements of populism are still present. 

The president is quite confident that, given the seriousness of the situation, the wave of populism in the runup to the elections will not be very strong and might be even less pronounced than in previous elections. 

Commenting on the civil union bill, which got stuck in the parliament ahead of the final reading, Levits said that the outgoing Saeima is unlikely to adopt this law. The president indicated that in demanding a regulation on same-sex partnerships, the Constitutional Court did not specifically require the adoption of this particular law and that lawmakers might still consider other options. 

The president, however, criticized the Saeima for not meeting the deadline set by the Constitutional Court for providing the regulation.