“Kārlis Kariņš Backs Rinkēvič as Prepared Presidential Candidate, Potential Loss for JV”

Currently, Rinkēvič has 26 votes, that is, all the votes of JV Saeima deputies. According to Kariņš, the foreign minister is probably the most prepared of all the presidential candidates. However, if Rinkevic became president, there would be no one to replace him immediately. In addition, his becoming president will be a loss for JV in practical terms, as Rinkēvičs is said to be one of the party’s most popular politicians.

“He will distance himself and leave. However, as the leader of the party, I am ready to offer him for this position, which will benefit the country. However, this next “Rinkēvič” will have a chance to grow,” said Kariņš.

He emphasized that the moment when the current President Egils Levits announced that he would not run in the elections changed the whole field.

“At the moment, there is a situation where, as far as I know, no force has made a decision not to support Rinkevičs, neither in the board nor in the city council. I think we are in a slightly different situation, where a lot can happen. I even see that other forces could be selfishly interested to support him in order to harvest him as one of our “locomotives”, Kariņš believes.

Asked whether the election of the president will cause any wider changes in the government, Kariņš answered evasively, stating that he does not know who will be the president, but he knows who he would like to see as such.

He does not rule out the possibility that this could lead to any adjustments in the government. However, he emphasized that he is interested in a known policy outcome – the reform of the education and health systems, as well as the development of the capital market.

On the other hand, if none of the current presidential candidates is elected, then we will have to “sit down at the table, pour coffee and open negotiations”.