RIGA – Latvia’s minority government, sans the People’s Party, began the arduous process Thursday of shoring up its ranks to ensure that it can survive the next six months until national elections.

The coalition controls up to 47 votes in the 100-seat Saeima, and must immediately deal with five empty ministerial posts after Wednesday’s departure of the recalcitrant People’s Party, which has been the [private_supervisor]coalition’s largest member.

Solvita Āboltiņa, chairwoman of the New Era party, said the coalition would try to attract the pro-business Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way union into the government, even though this would not be easy.

The party has 10 seats in parliament, where in recent weeks it has cooperated closely with the People’s Party on measures such as tax decreases. The party’s leader, Riga Deputy Mayor Ainars Šlesers, has been a dogged critic of the government and called for its dismissal on numerous occasions in the past three months.

Āboltiņa told the “Good Morning, Latvia” program that it was crucial the Baltic state remained cognizant of its international image and how reports on internal political strife immediately have a negative impact on the country’s rating.

“It is very important how we look on the outside, on the international stage. The international agencies immediately reacted on this yesterday,” Āboltiņa said. “It is important to convince first of all the international partners that this government has the capacity to work, that the program, which we have started, will be continued in exactly the same manner. Because otherwise all of this year’s work can turn out to be useless, and we might return to the situation of last March,” she said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said he would consider using the opportunity to cut the number of ministries. He told the “Kas Notiek Latvijā?” program on Wednesday that the Regional Affairs Ministry could be abolished while several other ministries could be merged.

The idea would likely receive wide support in parliament, where even the People’s Party has proposed cutting the number of ministries to eight or nine. Currently Latvia has 14 ministries. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]coalition’s largest member.

Solvita Āboltiņa, chairwoman of the New Era party, said the coalition would try to attract the pro-business Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way union into the government, even though this would not be easy.

The party has 10 seats in parliament, where in recent weeks it has cooperated closely with the People’s Party on measures such as tax decreases. The party’s leader, Riga Deputy Mayor Ainars Šlesers, has been a dogged critic of the government and called for its dismissal on numerous occasions in the past three months.

Āboltiņa told the “Good Morning, Latvia” program that it was crucial the Baltic state remained cognizant of its international image and how reports on internal political strife immediately have a negative impact on the country’s rating.

“It is very important how we look on the outside, on the international stage. The international agencies immediately reacted on this yesterday,” Āboltiņa said. “It is important to convince first of all the international partners that this government has the capacity to work, that the program, which we have started, will be continued in exactly the same manner. Because otherwise all of this year’s work can turn out to be useless, and we might return to the situation of last March,” she said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said he would consider using the opportunity to cut the number of ministries. He told the “Kas Notiek Latvijā?” program on Wednesday that the Regional Affairs Ministry could be abolished while several other ministries could be merged.

The idea would likely receive wide support in parliament, where even the People’s Party has proposed cutting the number of ministries to eight or nine. Currently Latvia has 14 ministries. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]coalition’s largest member.

Solvita Āboltiņa, chairwoman of the New Era party, said the coalition would try to attract the pro-business Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way union into the government, even though this would not be easy.

The party has 10 seats in parliament, where in recent weeks it has cooperated closely with the People’s Party on measures such as tax decreases. The party’s leader, Riga Deputy Mayor Ainars Šlesers, has been a dogged critic of the government and called for its dismissal on numerous occasions in the past three months.

Āboltiņa told the “Good Morning, Latvia” program that it was crucial the Baltic state remained cognizant of its international image and how reports on internal political strife immediately have a negative impact on the country’s rating.

“It is very important how we look on the outside, on the international stage. The international agencies immediately reacted on this yesterday,” Āboltiņa said. “It is important to convince first of all the international partners that this government has the capacity to work, that the program, which we have started, will be continued in exactly the same manner. Because otherwise all of this year’s work can turn out to be useless, and we might return to the situation of last March,” she said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said he would consider using the opportunity to cut the number of ministries. He told the “Kas Notiek Latvijā?” program on Wednesday that the Regional Affairs Ministry could be abolished while several other ministries could be merged.

The idea would likely receive wide support in parliament, where even the People’s Party has proposed cutting the number of ministries to eight or nine. Currently Latvia has 14 ministries. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]coalition’s largest member.

Solvita Āboltiņa, chairwoman of the New Era party, said the coalition would try to attract the pro-business Latvia’s First/Latvia’s Way union into the government, even though this would not be easy.

The party has 10 seats in parliament, where in recent weeks it has cooperated closely with the People’s Party on measures such as tax decreases. The party’s leader, Riga Deputy Mayor Ainars Šlesers, has been a dogged critic of the government and called for its dismissal on numerous occasions in the past three months.

Āboltiņa told the “Good Morning, Latvia” program that it was crucial the Baltic state remained cognizant of its international image and how reports on internal political strife immediately have a negative impact on the country’s rating.

“It is very important how we look on the outside, on the international stage. The international agencies immediately reacted on this yesterday,” Āboltiņa said. “It is important to convince first of all the international partners that this government has the capacity to work, that the program, which we have started, will be continued in exactly the same manner. Because otherwise all of this year’s work can turn out to be useless, and we might return to the situation of last March,” she said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said he would consider using the opportunity to cut the number of ministries. He told the “Kas Notiek Latvijā?” program on Wednesday that the Regional Affairs Ministry could be abolished while several other ministries could be merged.

The idea would likely receive wide support in parliament, where even the People’s Party has proposed cutting the number of ministries to eight or nine. Currently Latvia has 14 ministries. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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