With parliamentary elections six months away, only a few parties in Latvia have officially announced candidates for the position of Prime Minister. Still, sources within political circles suggest a clearer picture is emerging regarding which politicians are most likely to participate in debates, according to a report by Latvian Television’s “de facto” program.
Nearly all parties represented in the Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, have already identified their leaders, primarily from within the ranks of current lawmakers and ministers. While there have been concerns about a lack of generational change in Latvian politics, the potential field of candidates for Prime Minister is expected to differ significantly from those who ran in the 2022 Saeima elections.
“Almost everyone will be campaigning as a list leader for the first time in a Saeima election – the exception being Ainārs Šlesers (LPV) making another appearance.”
The “Latvia First” party (LPV) announced its candidate for Prime Minister a year ago, in the autumn of 2025. The party has once again nominated its founder, Šlesers, who currently serves as a deputy in the Riga City Council. The LPV doesn’t appear to be planning any major shifts in its messaging, repeating familiar themes from previous campaigns. Kristaps Krištopans, deputy head of the LPV’s Saeima faction, explained the party’s stance: “It will be easier for me to say with whom we will not cooperate. Under no circumstances will we work with ‘New Unity’ (JV) or ‘Progressives.’ We will be prepared to consider options with all other parties – if, of course, we win the elections.”
Regarding potential allies in the Riga City Council opposition – “Sovereign Power” and the “New Latvians” association – Krištopans added, “No, I couldn’t say we share the same views on many things.” When asked about collaborating with new political forces not currently in the Saeima, the LPV representative said, “If we are talking about the party of director Alvis Hermanis [‘We Change the Rules’] – if they receive into the Saeima, I think we have more in common than things that separate us.”
The National Alliance (NA) is as well open to discussing ideas from MMN regarding changes to the electoral system and state governance. The party’s preparations for the election campaign are taking place amid challenges, as a court ruling in January mandated the repayment of 210,000 euros in improperly used state funding.
The NA also announced its candidate for Prime Minister at the end of last year, nominating party leader and former Economics Minister Ilze Indriksone. She believes this early decision has given the party an advantage: “First, it’s an opportunity to meet with all sectors in a timely manner, to meet with residents, and to prepare an action plan. In fact, we are preparing both the party program for the elections and an action plan so that, when the elections are over and a government needs to be formed, we won’t have to start consultations and wonder what to do now. We will already have a ready-made proposal for specific work, specific measures, goals, and tasks to make Latvia safer, more prosperous, and definitely more Latvian.”
No parties within the current governing coalition have officially announced their candidates for Prime Minister. Evika Siliņa, chairwoman of the JV board and current Prime Minister, stated that the coalition has simply not had time. Currently, Siliņa is the only candidate being considered by JV, and Latvian Television reports she may be the top candidate on the Vidzeme list – a position traditionally reserved for the party’s prime ministerial nominee. However, placing Siliņa at the top of the JV’s Riga list remains a possibility.
“I think everyone can see that the work in the Prime Minister’s office requires many hours and a great deal of dedication. It is a service to society. If you are a leader, you are essentially a servant to everyone, a psychologist to everyone. You must certainly give up your private daily life. But if our party agrees that I am their candidate in the next elections, I will say yes,” Siliņa said.
The Latvian Farmers’ Union plans to discuss candidates for Prime Minister from its coalition partner, the Green and Farmers’ Union (ZZS), at its congress in late March. “de facto” reports that sociological studies are measuring the potential of Economics Minister Viktors Valainis, Agriculture Minister Armands Krauze, and MP Uldis Augulis. ZZS Saeima faction deputy leader Augusts Brigmanis admits that Valainis is the most likely candidate: “It’s up to him whether he can continue to grow in his political career and, most importantly, whether he can convince voters if he is nominated as a candidate for Prime Minister this autumn.”
Brigmanis notes that Valainis was almost nominated as a candidate four years ago, but the ZZS ultimately decided to re-nominate Aivars Lembergs, the former mayor of Ventspils, who faces multiple corruption charges and is subject to U.S. Sanctions, shortly before the 2022 Saeima elections. He implies that this will not happen this time. “I think yes, that was a decision we made, and I was there when that decision was made. Various factors played a role. Primarily, it was perhaps that Valainis hadn’t had enough experience as a minister, as a member of the government. Now this has been added to his list of accomplishments. I think all the opportunities are there for him to become this candidate for Prime Minister,” Brigmanis stated.
The United List (AS) is expected to make a formal decision on its candidate for Prime Minister in April. Currently, MP Andris Kulbergs is considered the most likely contender. He joined AS through an association founded by Uldis Pīlēns, which he now leads. The association, which has nominated Kulbergs for consideration by AS, changed its name last month to “Latvia Restart.”
Kulbergs frequently invokes this phrase during interviews: “First of all, we have come to make changes. Latvia needs a restart, a Latvian restart, both economic and political. To actually achieve change and mathematically achieve something, we need to achieve a better result than we have so far. To be the leading force in the coalition, we must, and these are my personal ambitions, do much more.” Kulbergs has not yet revealed whether he plans to achieve this restart and a better result for AS within the existing association or by expanding it – that will remain a mystery.
While competition is strong on the conservative side, the “Progressives” face partial competition from JV. The “Progressives” plan to announce their candidate for Prime Minister at a congress in late April. Sources suggest that European Parliament member Mārtins Staķis is the least likely candidate, even though he will actively participate in the campaign. Culture Minister Agnese Lāce is frequently mentioned, but another “Progressives” co-chair, Saeima faction leader Andris Šuvajevs, could be a dark horse.
Lāce emphasized in an interview with “de facto” that the party’s goal is to create a leadership team capable of best defending its priorities: “We are seeing trends in society, including in the issues I mentioned as our priorities – the seizure of power by populists can lead to restrictions on media freedom, restrictions on civil society. This is what we have seen elsewhere in Europe, and therefore we must not slack off.”
The only party in this Saeima that has been left without a faction is “For Stability!”. Despite a series of setbacks – a shrinking number of deputies in both the Saeima and the Riga City Council – its leader, Aleksejs Rosļikovs, will soon stand trial on charges of inciting national hatred, and the prosecutor’s office will soon apply to the court to suspend the party’s activities for six months – its board member, Saeima deputy Svetlana Čulkova, expresses confidence that they will be able to participate in the elections.
“We are now preparing documents, if there is a trial, to reveal our opinion on those videos mentioned by the prosecutor’s office. But I don’t see any incitement to hatred or anything else there. That is our opinion as a political party in the opposition.
That is our opinion. So far, we are waiting for some information, because there is nothing. Only headlines in the media, the Prosecutor General gives interviews, but we have no documents,” says Čulkova. “For Stability!” is not yet considering a candidate for Prime Minister.
Parties admit they are eagerly awaiting the latest poll results on voter support. The last publicly available data was in December, and the lack of more recent data is also influencing party maneuvers ahead of the elections.
