Harmony Center members Valery Ageshin (on the left) and Janis Urbanovich

Harmony Centre (HC) is not afraid of lacking experience in the government, as the party believes that its performance at Riga City Council has proved its management abilities. The news portal BNN learned this from Valery Ageshin, deputy chairman of Harmony Center’s faction in the Saeima.

It should be noted, that previously in an interview to the newspaper Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze HC leader Janis Urbanovich conceded setting up bi-partisan coalition, including HC and Zatlers Reform Party (ZRP).

At the same time, Vyaceslavs Dombrovskis, representative of ZRP, told the radio Baltkom that HC and ZRP are two parties that have never been in power, so such inexperienced coalition would fail in meeting its pre-election pledges.

“HC promises are linked to pensions, while ZRP vowed to cut labour taxes. And this should be taken into account,” Dombrovskis says.

Ageshin in turn refrained from commenting on ZRP’s statements, instead choosing to assure that HC is definitely prepared to work in a coalition government for two reasons. Firstly, because it won the elections. Secondly – it is said nowhere that only deputies can take ministerial posts.

«There are many experts working at the European Parliament who are professionals in their field,» Ageshin says.

In terms of experience, the HC representative points out that even back when the party won in Riga City Council’s elections, many political observers expressed doubts. Given experience gained in the Council, HC is not concerned about working at the government, Ageshin indicates.

«We can work in a government composed of two or three parties, hand in hand with Unity,» the politician says, noting that people have given their mandate of trust to these parties, and the nation is often wiser than political observers.

When asking about chairman of ZRP Valdis Zatlers’ comments on the likelihood of a two-party coalition, Daiga Holma, communications representative of ZRP, indicates that this issue is not on ZRP’s agenda.

«Currently, negotiations on the coalition formation are carried out with three partners – Unity, AFL-FFF/LNNK and HC. The main issue in these talks is implementation of the parties’ platforms, and how to meet pre-election pledges,» Holma says.