Riga (Latvia), October 3: Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins' centrist New Unity party has emerged as the winner of the parliamentary election, the Baltic country's Central Election Committee announced on Sunday.
Preliminary results show that New Unity has captured 26 mandates in Latvia's 100-seat parliament. The Union of Greens and Farmers is runner-up with 16 mandates, the newcomer United List is third with 15 mandates.
The right-wing National Alliance follows with 13, another newcomer For Stability with 11, the liberal Progressives party with 10 and Latvia First party with nine mandates.
After his party's victory in the election, Karins announced the intention to form Latvia's next government coalition and lead the new cabinet, the core of which will likely include election winner New Unity, United List and the National Alliance.
Together, the three parties will have 54 votes in Latvia's new parliament and will probably need one more partner for an effective decision-making process, according to local media reports.
President Egils Levits is expected to start consultations on Monday on the shape of the new government coalition with the parties that have won seats in parliament.
Source: Xinhua
