Latvia: Coalition party to continue cooperation with convicted kingpin

Latvia’s Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), which is part of the country’s current coalition government, will continue to cooperate with former Ventspils mayor Aivars Lembergs despite him having been sentenced to prison for corruption, LSM reports. Harijs Rokpelnis, chairman of the ZZS parliamentary group, pointed out that the court verdict had not entered into force yet and was subject to appeal. Meanwhile, Daiga Mierina, speaker of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, said that the ZZS faction would assess its attitude towards Lembergs following the verdict. Earlier, Mierina praised Lembergs and defended her party’s decision to designate him as its candidate for prime minister. Lembergs heads the Ventspils-based regionalist party, For Latvia and Ventspils (LuV), which has a standing cooperation agreement with ZZS. Prime Minister Evika Silina, who heads the New Unity party, insisted that convicted or sanctioned persons had no place at the coalition table.